From isolationism to interventionism
Straight to the monthly topic. See, some have argued that Trump's promises of "America first", and about withdrawing America from most conflicts and letting other countries sort their stuff out on their own, which he so generously gave during his election campaign, were spelling danger for world peace. Some even made the comparison to pre-WW2 time when America had its head buried in the sand, believing that two oceans on both sides were protecting her, this way not allowing the world to recover from the Great Depression, and allowing enough leeway to power-hungry wannabe-empires like Japan and Germany to start aggressive expansion.
But worry not, pro-intervention folks! For the time of Trump's promised withdrawal from the world scene only lasted a couple of months - until he clashed with reality, that is.
Now he has made a full 180 from a supposed foreign-policy realist to just another interventionist neocon.
The warming up with Russia quickly ran into a road-block, what with Tillerson's cold reception in the Kremlin, and Trump's hasty order to strike an Assad air base. Assad is Putin's buddy, no? And Trump used to scold Obama for pressing hard against Assad, telling him to leave him alone. Well, guess what. Trump now wants Assad out, just like Obama did. And of course, as you might have guessed, Putin will have none of it. The champagne in Kremlin has hardly warmed after they popped it last November, and now they're realizing their beloved Donnie is no better than his predecessor.
North Korea and China are yet another place where Trump is moving in hard. Remember the Pivot to Asia? It was Obama's doctrine about China. Wasn't Trump who used to criticize him for that? Well, he's doing the exact same thing.
"Trump’s pivot from isolationism to interventionism while staying the course on his paranoid and miserly approach to immigrants and refugees reveals the fundamental incoherence of his worldview. What had seemed a stunted, transactional form of realpolitik has turned out to be nothing more than improvisation and reflex, and the President’s actions may very well commit the U.S. to a path for which we are ill-equipped in light of how other administration policies damage our credibility and chances for success." -- Says it better than I ever could, frankly.
But worry not, pro-intervention folks! For the time of Trump's promised withdrawal from the world scene only lasted a couple of months - until he clashed with reality, that is.
Now he has made a full 180 from a supposed foreign-policy realist to just another interventionist neocon.
The warming up with Russia quickly ran into a road-block, what with Tillerson's cold reception in the Kremlin, and Trump's hasty order to strike an Assad air base. Assad is Putin's buddy, no? And Trump used to scold Obama for pressing hard against Assad, telling him to leave him alone. Well, guess what. Trump now wants Assad out, just like Obama did. And of course, as you might have guessed, Putin will have none of it. The champagne in Kremlin has hardly warmed after they popped it last November, and now they're realizing their beloved Donnie is no better than his predecessor.
North Korea and China are yet another place where Trump is moving in hard. Remember the Pivot to Asia? It was Obama's doctrine about China. Wasn't Trump who used to criticize him for that? Well, he's doing the exact same thing.
"Trump’s pivot from isolationism to interventionism while staying the course on his paranoid and miserly approach to immigrants and refugees reveals the fundamental incoherence of his worldview. What had seemed a stunted, transactional form of realpolitik has turned out to be nothing more than improvisation and reflex, and the President’s actions may very well commit the U.S. to a path for which we are ill-equipped in light of how other administration policies damage our credibility and chances for success." -- Says it better than I ever could, frankly.