The supposed stand-off in Davos this week between European “liberals” and “nasty nationalistic” Trump is as about as consequential as a snowball fight. A snowball fight, that is, with the fluffiest, softest, most powdery of snow.
Pentagon planners clearly anticipate another year of playing at defense by keeping the offense on the field. An impetuous and poorly informed president is a danger to all of us, particularly as he is surrounded by general-advisers who see a military solution to every problem.
What the result will be of Turkey’s offensive against the Kurdish-held enclave of Afrin in northwest Syria may not be clear for a while, but two things are already certain. Bad decisions in Washington provided the trigger, and Washington’s regional position will suffer as a result of Ankara’s Orwellian-named “Operation Olive Branch.”
Pentagon planners clearly anticipate another year of playing at defense by keeping the offense on the field. An impetuous and poorly informed president is a danger to all of us, particularly as he is surrounded by general-advisers who see a military solution to every problem.
On 13 January, the latest in a series of celebrations to mark the 106th anniversary of the African National Congress (ANC) party took place in South Africa. The party’s plans were announced for the first time by the ANC’s new head, Cyril Ramaphosa, who was elected at the end of December 2017.
The White House’s wheeling and dealing in the Middle East, with Mohammad bin Salman, Mohammad bin Zayed, and Bibi Netanyahu, for a ‘deal of the century’ has yielded not only ‘no deal’, but rather, has exacerbated Gulf tensions to a near existential crisis.
The ones who don't bother to watch "The News" don't care, and those who do watch "The News" don't care either. The only encouraging thing is that the people who watch "The News" will watch whatever is put in front of them: if the central narrative changes completely, it will still be "The News".
From Palestine to Botswana and Haiti to Britain, Trump’s actions have made the United States a pariah and outlier. There is very little U.S. diplomats can do, but be called in by foreign ministries to be lectured on good manners, propriety, and behavior. Today, every American should feel absolute shame in their president and their country.
Kosovo will not be asked to fulfill any conditions beyond conducting a cosmetic investigation of Oliver Ivanović’s murder, which will yield no tangible results. Pressure, however, will be on Serbia to disregard the outrage as quickly as possible and go back to "business as usual."
It remains to be seen whether Trump’s language, whatever it was, will translate into good policy. In the wake of “S-Gate,” he’s in a strong position.
