Washington Post (November 25)
“President Donald Trump’s foreign policy is unconventional, but it’s also becoming predictably unpredictable.” Fortunately, Volodymyr Zelensky “has grown more astute at handling Trump.” He knew how to handle Trump’s latest “gambit and acted accordingly.” It seems Zelensky has transformed the lopsided peace proposal. “Ukraine could still come out ahead at the end of this nerve-wracking exercise.” While “there’s nothing wrong with talking,” American negotiators should “never forget who is really to blame for this awful conflict.”
Tags: Astute, Blame, Conflict, Foreign policy, Gambit, Handling, Lopsided, Negotiators, Nerve-wracking, Russia, Trump, U.S., Ukraine, Unconventional, Unpredictable, Zelensky
The Guardian (August 4)
“The Swiss stock market has plunged, the cabinet has held crisis talks and the country’s president, Karin Keller-Sutter, has been accused of mishandling a vital phone call with the White House after Donald Trump hit the country with a shock 39% export tariff.” Roughly one-sixth of Switzerland’s exports go to the U.S. and prior to the phone call “negotiators believed they had secured a 10% tariff on exports.” Instead, Switzerland now confronts “one of the steepest US duties – only Laos, Myanmar and Syria had higher figures, at 40-41%.”
Tags: 10%, 39%, Cabinet, Crisis talks, Exports, Keller-Sutter, Laos, Myanmar, Negotiators, Phone call, Plunged, Shock, Stock market, Swiss, Tariff, Trump
The Hill (June 30)
“The images from the DMZ looked a bit like a summit between leaders of two crime families; indeed, Trump had to ask Kim if North Korea’s key negotiators with the United States are still alive.” Whether the meeting ultimately amounts “to a meaningful step toward peace on the divided Korean peninsula or is a cheap and illusory ‘reality’ show, with no lasting significance, is difficult to know at this point.”
Tags: Alive, Crime families, DMZ, Kim, Meaningful, Negotiators, North Korea, Summit, Trump, U.S.
Reuters (October 12)
“Nerves are fraying in the Brexit talks, negotiators are trying to work out if the other side is bluffing about walking away, and a ticking clock is fast narrowing British options come March 2019.”
LA Times (December 22)
“At the latest round of international climate talks this month in Lima, Peru, melting glaciers in the Andes and recent droughts provided a fitting backdrop for the negotiators’ recognition that it is too late to prevent climate change…. They now confront an issue that many had hoped to avoid: adaptation.”
Tags: Adaptation, Andes, Climate change, Climate talks, Droughts, Glaciers, Lima, Negotiators, Peru, Prevention
