The Economist (November 9)
“America’s anti-China fervour is partly an overcorrection for its previous complacency about the economic, military and ideological threat the autocratic giant poses.” The U.S. needs to rely upon “a sober assessment not just of China’s strengths, but also of its weaknesses.” Anything less, risks letting a distorted “view of Chinese power” lead to unnecessary “confrontations and, at worst, an avoidable conflict.”
Tags: Anti-China, Autocratic, Complacency, Confrontations, Economic, Fervour, Ideological, Military, Overcorrection, Power, Sober assessment, Strengths, Threat, U.S., Weaknesses
New York Times (July 9)
“Japan’s longest-serving prime minister became perhaps the most transformational politician in the country’s post-World War II history,” even though he “never achieved his goal of revising Japan’s Constitution to transform his country into what the Japanese call a ‘normal nation,’ able to employ its military to back up its national interests like any other.”
Tags: Abe, Constitution, History, Japan, Longest-serving, Military, National interests, Normal nation, Politician, Prime minister, Revising, Transformational
New York Times (October 22)
Recent reports released by the federal government make clear that “climate change poses a widening threat to national security.” The reports lay out “the ways in which the warming world is beginning to significantly challenge stability worldwide.” These include “Worsening conflict within and between nations. Increased dislocation and migration as people flee climate-fueled instability. Heightened military tension and uncertainty. Financial hazards.”
Tags: Climate change, Conflict, Dislocation, Government, Instability, Migration, Military, National security, Reports, Stability, Tension, Threat, U.S., Uncertainty, Worldwide
The Economist (January 30)
“No part of the world matters more to America’s interests than Asia, and no part stands to lose so much from an American retreat.” As he sets about repairing four years of Trump damage, Joe Biden will find many receptive. “None of China’s neighbours wants it to call all the military and economic shots,” but “the trick for President Joe Biden will be to restore faith in America without asking Asian countries to take its side openly against China.”
Tags: Asia, Biden, China, Damage, Economic shots, Interests, Military, Receptive, Repairing, Restore, Retreat, Trump, U.S.
Deutsche Welle (June 7)
“Donald Trump seems to finally be making good on his threat …. to punish Germany.” The sudden move to remove 9,500 troops is “misguided.” It “does not make military sense” and “has shown once again that NATO’s European members cannot rely on the commander-in-chief in the White House. It is a wake-up call for Europeans to take the initiative when it comes to their own defense, and actually spend more money on it.”
New York Times (January 4)
“President Trump’s decision to authorize the killing of a top Iranian military leader could be the match that sets off a regional conflagration, or it could have only marginal geopolitical impact…. But it is just the latest example of the capricious way in which the president, as commander in chief, has chosen to flex his lethal powers.”
Tags: Authorize, Capricious, Conflagration, Geopolitical, Impact, Iran, Killing, Military, Trump
Reuters (April 25)
“Under Xi Jinping, Beijing has elevated its missile forces to a point where many rockets in the Chinese arsenal now rival or outperform those of the United States. This dramatic shift could render American carriers – the backbone of U.S. military supremacy – obsolete in a conflict with China.”
Tags: Arsenal, Beijing, China, Conflict, Military, Missile force, Obsolete, Outperform, Rival, Rockets, Supremacy, U.S., Xi Jinping
Washington Post (September 8)
“Washington feels like the capital of an occupied country,” filled with “institutional and administrative chaos; our military chain of command is compromised; people around the elected president feel impelled to act above the law and remove papers from his desk. The mechanisms meant to protect the state from an incompetent or dictatorial president are not being used because people in power no longer believe in them, or are afraid to use them. Washington feels like the capital of a state where the legal order has collapsed.”
Tags: Administrative, Chain of command, Chaos, Collapsed, Dictatorial, Elected, Incompetent, Institutional, Law, Legal order, Military, Occupied, Power, President, Protect, Washington
Washington Post (August 14)
“Even in a world where the United States’ military and diplomatic power seems to be in retreat, there is an element of the U.S.-led order that’s as strong as ever — our dominance of the global economy.” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey “may think he can bluff his way through the Brunson crisis, but Turkish banks, construction companies and bondholders know better. In the still-global economy, going it alone really isn’t an option… This summer, as ever, we sink or swim together.”
Tags: Banks, Bondholders, Brunson, Construction, Crisis, Diplomatic, Dominance, Erdogan, Global economy, Military, Power, Retreat, Turkey, U.S.
Newsweek (June 13)
Kim was the “undisputed winner” and rather “sadly, this isn’t really up for debate.” Kim successfully “appealed to Trump’s vanity…. On its own, putting the suspension of our defensive joint military exercises on the table in exchange for nothing concrete is a jaw-dropping concession from both a diplomatic and a military readiness perspective. In addition, it seems the Defense Department was not consulted, nor were our South Korean allies.”
Tags: Allies, Concession, Defense Dept., Diplomatic, Jaw-dropping, Joint military exercises, Kim, Military, Nothing concrete, Readiness, South Korea, Trump, Undisputed, Vanity, Winner
