The Syrian Civil War began in March 2011 and continues to this day. It is one of the bloodiest conflicts in the world at present and it is also one of the most poorly covered foreign affairs issues as well.
It often seems that anyone and everyone who wants to fight other people has their place in this country, at the tragic expense of the millions of people who live there.
Admittedly, the job of being White House Press Secretary is by definition not easy. Even in the days of President Obama, when the (mostly liberal) press was far more friendly to the White House than today, press secretaries came and went.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in a speech at the Klyazma River National Educational Youth Forum, indicated Russia is well apprised of the military situation of both American and its Western allies. He noted that Russia is prepared for any security challenge, and assured that the Russian defensive capacity is competent to handle it. Meanwhile, the United States and Western European powers are attempting to make an enemy out of Russia over allegations of meddling, hacking, etc.
US Republican Senators John Barrasso and Cory Gardner have introduced a bill to enforce US economic sanctions on companies involved in the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project. While sanctions already exist relative to other Russian energy project, this bill aims to specifically target the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in a plan to kill it, dead in the Baltic.
Sputnik News reported Monday that the American Senate, with specific support from Senator John McCain, proposes a bill to prevent a US President from leaving NATO unless this is supported by a two-thirds majority vote in the Senate. This not only applies to NATO but to all treaties:
I was not a fan of Trump, but I have to say, he has done a great job probably better than any world leader.
He has revised trade and has turned North Korea while your unemployment is now below 4% at 1960s level and you have a GDP growth of 4% while we have unemployment still in the 60% level among the youth and economic growth is at best 2.4%.
It is hard to see why CNN turns everything negative.
It is really becoming blatant.
Our cities are becoming cesspools, our nation is falling apart all around us, and it seems like the number of sick, twisted and depraved people is multiplying.
We still have a relatively high standard of living for the moment, but the only reason we can maintain that standard of living is because we are on the greatest debt binge in human history. And once that bubble bursts, I fear for what this nation is going to become, because things are getting really bad out there.
Japan has gone and decided that it wanted to have a ballistic missile defense system which it intended to spend somewhere around $2 billion for. However, since the initial offer came onto the table the contract signed, the cost has creeped its was up to well over double that figure, now to somewhere around $5.4 billion for both the system and the missiles that it operates.
The Diplomat reports:
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Monday a plan to spend $113 million on infrastructure, energy, and technology in the ‘Indo-Pacific’ region in a speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The plan comes about at a time when China is perceived as a threat to America’s trade hegemony, while a burgeoning trade war between China and the US is waging, and when Beijing is investing large amounts of capital and diplomatic influence to eminently position itself.
In the face of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs contest with Mexico, the Mexicans are on walkabout to find alternative suppliers of goods that Mexico imports from the USA. One of those goods happens to be wheat, and as Mexico partially replaces America as one of its leading suppliers, the US will find itself sitting on a surplus supply and will possess that much less market domination. America has been Mexico’s leading wheat supplier since NAFTA in 1994.
