New York Times (February 11)
“Before the fear of being blown up on a plane, or a train, or a sidewalk gave millions of people sleepless nights, before the threat of global climate disaster stirred dread, nuclear annihilation was the stuff of nightmares.” Then the U.S. and Russia took a step back. With the end of the INF Treaty and the Start Treaty set to expire, the nightmares may return. They shouldn’t. “Outspending Russia on a nuclear arms race, as Mr. Trump has bragged he would do, or abandoning an arms control regime that has helped forestall nuclear war for decades, is a foolish game of chicken, with no possible winners.”
Tags: Climate disaster, Fear, INF, Nightmares, Nuclear annihilation, Plane, Russia, Sleepless nights, Start, Threat, Train, Trump, U.S.
Reuters (February 8)
“With his ratings down and state funds needed to hedge against new Western sanctions and raise living standards, Russian President Vladimir Putin cannot afford to get sucked into a costly nuclear arms race with the United States.” The tell could be seen after Donald Trump pulled out of the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF). Putin indicated Russia would do the same thing, but he “did not up the ante.”
Bloomberg (December 28)
“Who is the most important and disruptive leader in the world today? Most Americans would probably answer, Donald Trump—with Russia’s Vladimir Putin running a close second.” There is, however “a strong case that China’s Xi Jinping may deserve the title.”
Washington Post (December 17)
It’s not clear “the country has fully comprehended the damage being done by a president who misbehaves so frequently…. Globally, the United States has lost its power, its aura of seriousness and decisiveness that once made autocrats hesitate before crossing us. Now we are a country that can’t seem to stand up to a ruler who orders the murder and dismemberment of a dissident who was a legal U.S. resident or call out Russia’s intrusion into America’s democratic process…. A child occupies the White House, and the world knows it.”
Tags: Aura, Child, Damage, Decisiveness Dismemberment, Misbehaves, Power, President, Russia, Seriousness, U.S.
BBC (October 21)
“Concern about Russia’s development and deployment of a missile system that breaches the INF treaty predates the Trump administration.” Still, Trump’s “decision to walk away from the agreement marks a significant setback for arms control. Many experts believe that negotiations should have continued to try to bring the Russians back into compliance.” Instead, the move may prove part of a “wider unravelling of the whole system of arms control treaties.”
Tags: Arms control, Compliance, Experts, INF, Missile system, Negotiations, Russia, Setback, Treaties, Treaty, Trump
Time (September 26)
“President Trump’s efforts to isolate Iran at the U.N. backfired.” “The fiery speeches against Iran,” instead, revealed the “divisions… between the U.S. and its closest allies.” Most “foreign nations have opted to defend the agreement” with Iran, “rather than join America’s outbursts against it.” In fact, Russia, China, Germany, Britain, and France agreed “to set up legal entity to circumvent U.S. sanctions.”
Tags: Allies, Backfired, Britain, China, Circumvent, France, Germany, Iran, Outburst, Russia, Sanctions, Trump, U.N., U.S.
Time (September 13)
“The United States may have reclaimed the title of the world’s biggest oil producer sooner than expected.” Based on preliminary estimates from the Energy Information Administration, the U.S. probably surpassed Russia this summer “after jumping over Saudi Arabia earlier this year. If those estimates are right, it would mark the first time since 1973 that the U.S. has led the world in output.”
Tags: 1973, Energy, Oil producer, Output, Preliminary estimates, Russia, Saudi Arabia, U.S.
Reuters (September 11)
Perhaps without realizing it, Donald Trump is playing a very “dangerous Asian game” His “clear tilt toward India will hardly halt Pakistan’s continued drift toward neighboring China and Russia…. Trump must recognize that getting his way across the subcontinent could bring down a fragile edifice, one that has been propped up by delicate presidential balancing acts since the days of the Truman administration.”
Tags: Asian game, Balancing acts, China, Dangerous, Delicate, Fragile, India, Pakistan, Russia, Tilt, Truman, Trump
Washington Post (August 21)
“For foreign countries that have made big bets on Donald Trump’s presidency — such as Russia, China, North Korea and Saudi Arabia — the U.S. midterm elections pose a significant problem: Trump’s maneuvering room may be sharply limited if Democrats win control of the House.” The Republicans hold on power looks “so precarious, that foreign commentators are debating what GOP losses in November could mean.”
Tags: China, Democrats, Election, Midterm, North Korea, Precarious, Republicans, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Trump, U.S.
Washington Post (July 16)
“In Helsinki, Mr. Trump again insisted ‘there was no collusion’ with Russia.” In the process, however, he “appeared to align himself with the Kremlin against American law enforcement.” By “refusing to acknowledge the plain facts about Russia’s behavior, while trashing his own country’s justice system, Mr. Trump in fact was openly colluding with the criminal leader of a hostile power.”
Tags: Collusion, Criminal, Facts, Helsinki, Hostile power, Justice, Kremlin, Law enforcement, Russia, Trump, U.S.
