Another nail in the coffin of American stability may have been driven in just a few days ago as Alabama Republicans adopted a resolution trying to get Representative Ilhan Omar to be expelled from Congress for her statements on Israel i.e. non-criminal actions.
The month of August was named for the Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus whose reign from 27 BC to 14 AD is usually remembered for what became known as Pax Romana — an era of peace — but ended with him becoming ever more dictatorial.
The Democratic Presidential candidates who have been the most backed by billionaires have not been doing well in the polling thus far, and this fact greatly disturbs the billionaires. They know that the Democratic nominee will be chosen in the final round of primaries, and they have always wanted Pete Buttigieg to be in that final round. Therefore, they have backed him more than any of the other candidates. But what worries them now is that his opponent in that round might turn out to be Bernie Sanders, whom they all consider to be their nemesis.
Over the past several years Latin America has become a strategic battleground which involves much more than merely “geopolitical power plays” between the USA vs China as many commentators are asserting. Of course this is not to say that there are no geopolitical battles occurring.
Any chance of the seven most industrialized eco-trashers preventing the Amazon from going up in smoke is a bit like hoping Hollywood executives will find a way to stop sex and violence from appearing on the big screen. It’s probably not going to happen. The G7 wants to keep filling the seats for a show called ‘Capitalism’ and come next week few will remember the French president’s fiery, self-serving outburst.
Donald Trump as a non-politician who immediately made the jump to politics winning the highest office in the land is abnormal and this abnormality in his background certainly makes him a more unpredictable and refreshing leader, even if some of his musings are a big odd or out of left field.
The Group of Seven (G7) self-declared advanced nations meet this weekend in France for their 45th annual summit. US President Donald Trump caused a stir ahead of the gathering in Biarritz when he remarked that Russia should be included in the format, thereby making it a G8 summit.
“Russia should be at the negotiating table,” said Trump, in a rare moment of lucidity.
Sanctions against the people
A new embargo against Venezuela became effective on August 5th through an Executive Order signed by United States President Donald Trump, titled “Executive Order on Blocking Property of the Government of Venezuela.”
Two world wars began because of unconditional pledges made by one country to come to assistance of another. On July 5, 1914, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany pledged his country’s complete support for whatever response Austria-Hungary would choose to make against Serbia after the June 28th assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria by a Serbian nationalist during an official visit to Sarajevo, Bosnia.
On Russia-related matters, the more sane among us can perhaps be forgiven for becoming sedated by the kind of absurdities regularly spewed by some high profile individuals. The realist wing of the US foreign policy establishment has at times held back in rebuking this reality. We all have our biases, with the ideal to nevertheless be reasonably fair and balanced – a point which leads to a detailed critical overview of some trends among US foreign policy establishment realists.
