Richard N. Haass
@RichardHaass
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President Emeritus, CFR. Author of "The Bill of Obligations: The Ten Habits of Good Citizens" (https://t.co/vOkjeXF4rz) and "Home & Away" (https://t.co/RqmfT8hc1d).
Joined September 2010
The United States needs a functioning democracy to pass needed legislation, maintain a robust economy, & preserve stability at home & broad-but Americans will only get one if rights are balanced with obligations. Hence my new book: The Bill of Obligations.
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I see @realDonaldTrump is going after my former boss and long-time friend & colleague Colin Powell. Lots I could say; what I will say is that Colin Powell personifies what is best about this country: public service, honesty, courage, decency, character, giving back. Enough said.
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I changed my registration to "no party affiliation" after 40 years. I worked for Reagan & Bush 41 & 43. But today’s Rep Party no longer embraces the policies & principles that led me to join it. To paraphrase Ronald Reagan, I didn’t leave the Republican Party; the Party left me.
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There is a pattern to the foreign policy of @realDonaldTrump. We have seen it w N Korea, NAFTA, and now China. He creates a sense of crisis, compromises, and both claims he accomplished more than he did and deserves credit for having defused the crisis that he largely created.
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.@realDonaldTrump is now set for war on 3 fronts: political vs Bob Mueller, economic vs China/others on trade, and actual vs. Iran and/or North Korea. This is the most perilous moment in modern American history-and it has been largely brought about by ourselves, not by events.
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So after 3 years of no international crises, @realDonaldTrump is facing one w Iran b/c he has rejected diplomacy & another w N Korea b/c he has asked too much of diplomacy. He will face both w little allied backing, less interagency process, & amidst impeachment. Happy New Year.
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Make no mistake: any war with Iran will not look like the 1990 Gulf war or the 2003 Iraq wars. It will be fought throughout the region w a wide range of tools vs a wide range of civilian, economic, & military targets. The region (and possibly the world) will be the battlefield.
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Calling career foreign service professionals “radical unelected bureaucrats” as the WH press sec did today is an outrage. They swore to defend the Constitution, and they are doing just that. Long since time for @SecPompeo to defend his troops.
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As someone who lived through 1968, I find the comparisons between then and now widely miss the mark. What we are seeing today is much more serious given the public health crisis, deep recession and massive unemployment, and a president who is escalating the crisis in the streets.
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Just when I think my capacity to be surprised has been exhausted, Pres Trump declares that he accepts Putin's word (over CIA's) that he never interfered in our election & worries the Russian leader feels insulted by charge to contrary.
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The irony of the successful operation against al-Baghdadi is that it could not have happened w/o US forces on the ground that have been pulled out, help from Syrian Kurds who have been betrayed, and support of US intelligence community that has so often been disparaged.
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In an instant Europe has gone from being the most stable region in the world to anything but. Paris is burning, the Merkel era is ending, Italy is playing a dangerous game of chicken with the EU, Russia is carving up Ukraine, and the UK is consumed by Brexit. History is resuming.
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What just happened with the Navy is part of a pattern. @realDonaldTrump has undermined the intelligence community, the foreign service, and our alliances. So it was only a matter of time before he took on the military.
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In last 24 hours Trump has threatened to 1) cut aid to nuclear-armed, terrorist-laden Pakistan; 2) cut aid to miffed Palestinians after he alters US Jerusalem policy, and 3) boasted his nuclear button is bigger than Kim Jung-un's. This is our commander-in-chief. Think about it.
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American democracy if it is to endure needs a SCOTUS widely accepted as an impartial referee, but this Court, by how it was constituted & by rulings that appear to be more about policy than law, has for many forfeited its legitimacy. Our democracy is in deeper danger as a result.
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A suggestion: the next Nobel Peace Prize recipient ought to be Alexei Navalny for advocating peaceful protest against corruption in Putin’s Russia. Doing so would not only be right on the merits but would provide some much needed protection & a boost to Navalny & his supporters.
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i understand the focus on politics here at home, but 1) NK is not denuclearizing; 2) Venezuela is on the precipice; 3) a crisis with/over Iran is brewing; 4) climate change is worse sooner than predicted; 5) US relations w China and Russia are at post-Cold War nadir. just sayin'.
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A 9/11 style commission on the events leading to and of Jan 6 is essential, not just to help uncover what happened, but to weave together and tell the history in a compelling, authoritative way that many Americans now and in the future will read and learn from.
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Truly sobering analysis: US more vulnerable than many countries to #coronavirus owing to combination of high numbers of uninsured, many w/o paid sick leave, and a leadership that has downplayed the challenge while not preparing the country for it.
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Reports that Putin asking Xi for military help. To do so means China would open itself to substantial sanctions and make itself a pariah; to refuse would keep open the possibility of at least selective cooperation with US and West. Defining moment for Xi, China, and 21st century.
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This sentence still stuns even tho we know it: “The president barely shows up to work, ignoring the health & economic crises afflicting the nation & largely clearing his schedule of meetings unrelated to his desperate bid to rewrite the election results.”
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in just 24 hours the secstate was surprised by Golan Heights tweet & now @realDonaldTrump has lifted new Treasury sanctions vs NK b/c he likes Chairman Kim. There is not even the pretense of a national security process. Hard to imagine what would occur if there were a real crisis.
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Long overdue to give up fiction that Erdogan’s Turkey is an ally in practice. US should withdraw all nuclear weapons, reduce reliance on Turkey’s bases, and restrict intelligence sharing and arms sales. Should also articulate red lines in Syria.
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The Senate was arguably the one venue that would find Donald Trump not guilty despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. It is now time for a commission, courts, committee hearings, & the press to tell the full story for this and future generations & press for accountability.
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for the record, @POTUS tweets have real forpol impact, as they can raise serious doubts overseas re his judgment-& wisdom of relying on US.
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Lots of people saying US had right to move embassy to Jerusalem. Of course it did. But having a right not the same as being right. No discernible upside and considerable downside: US played a big card for nothing, weakened its claim to be honest broker, helped to fuel violence.
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To strip individuals of security clearances absent specific evidence of improper or illegal use of classified information is seriously wrong. It represents a degree of politicization and a misuse of power that we associate with Erdogan's Turkey, not with the United States.
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At some point an amoral foreign policy becomes an immoral foreign policy. US foreign policy under @realDonaldTrump has reached such a point.
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What we face now is much more serious than Watergate. Nixon, for all his flaws, was a conservative who abided by norms. Trump is not and does not. Senate Republicans in 1974 stood up to the president when he crossed the line. The same cannot be said today.
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I do not understand why a 2nd Brexit referendum would be non-democratic when the first vote was taken amidst incomplete and often erroneous information. I also do not understand the lack of confidence by Brexit advocates: if it is such a good idea, it would surely win again.
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With Russian nuclear forces placed on alert, war has reached a new, dangerous phase. Up to now we have focused on the risks of Putin prevailing; now we must also face the risks of Putin failing. Escalation-broad use of cyber, attack on NATO, even nuclear use-cannot be ruled out.
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We take Putin’s word he didn’t interfere in 2016 election, Kim’s he will denuclearize, and MBS that he had no role in Khashoggi murder. If Reagan was trust but verify, @realDonaldTrump is trust and look away. Sad to be sure, but also dangerous.
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Something tells me the Founders never anticipated the fifth amendment would be cited to allow an individual not to respond to whether he believed in the orderly transfer of power.
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Israel’s PM has turned 2 critics into martyrs, weakened its reputation as the region’s strongest democracy, & jeopardized the tradition of bipartisan American support for Israel-all to give in to @realDonaldTrump’s desire for a political talking point. Talk about short-sighted!.
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Those giving Potus kudos for getting thru trip w/o major gaffe/incident missing the point: the trip weakened core elements of post-WW2 order.
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The unraveling of G-7 summit works in NK’s favor as @realDonaldTrump will not want to bust up 2 summits in a row lest people conclude he is the problem. Increases incentive for Kim to up his asks and limit his compromises and for Trump to do the opposite. Hardly the ideal context.
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.@realDonaldTrump just claimed on @60Minutes that EU created to take advantage of the US on trade. Not exactly. EU is heir to the European Coal and Steel Community, created to make sure France and Germany so knitted together that major war never again broke out in Europe.
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Sorry @SecPompeo, but an administration that calls the media an enemy, attacks judges, & uses federal forces to crush dissent compromises its ability to criticize China on human rights. It doesnt help that you also give Russia, Turkey & Saudi Arabia a pass
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The WHO is a flawed agency. two things tho. It is only what the major powers, including the US, allow it to be. It navigates a world of sovereign states. And second, its failings do not explain our own poor performance on testing, PPE, or slowness to require social distancing.
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One additional thought RE the memorial service for John McCain: it was an important foreign policy statement to the world, that the America they had long known and admired still exists. Acting in ways others respect and want to associate with is soft power at its most potent.
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Differing US, Russian accounts of Trump-Putin bilateral is one reason you have an NSC aide attend important meetings as note taker.
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I thought it was the responsibility of the Secretary of State to explain to Americans why they should care about Ukraine, not to berate a journalist asking legitimate questions about his lack of support for foreign service officers acting professionally.
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The speech by @realDonaldTrump is most remarkable for its xenophobia, but it also failed to prepare Americans for what it is to come or for fixing the testing fiasco. We are about to prove the adage that things have to get worse before they get even worse.
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Rex Tillerson has been dealt a bad hand by the Potus & has played it badly. For both reasons he cannot be effective SecState & should resign.
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The Trump administration has achieved the unthinkable: turning the G-7 into the G-6. with the US as the odd man out. America First is as predicted America Alone. Respect for this country is falling, along with its influence, prosperity, and security.
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It is important to reiterate that UK Amb. Kim Darroch did nothing wrong. He acted professionally throughout, including resigning as it became clear he could no longer be effective in Trump’s Washington. The person who did wrong was whoever leaked the cable
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Brent Scowcroft passed away last night. He set the standard for all Nat Sec Advisors. He got the balance right between being an honest broker for the potus & a counselor to him. He was no less exceptional as a mentor, colleague, & friend. May his memory always be for a blessing.
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One reason for India’s relative success has been that its large Muslim minority saw itself as Indian. But this is at risk owing to govt attempts to exploit identity politics for political advantage. Truly short-sighted as both economically, socially costly
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It has been an awful week for the US. @realDonaldTrump did real damage to foreign relationships that have served this country well. Serious people are raising serious questions as to his motives. And too many who know better have said nothing or, worse yet, rushed to defend him.
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In days Germany has gone from being the most wobbly of allies to full partner: gas pipeline suspension, supporter of tough eco sanctions, providing arms to Ukraine, now increasing its own military spending. All critical to the crisis & beyond. Kudos to the new chancellor & govt.
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.@realDonaldTrump claim there is no longer a NK nuclear threat patently false. The summit changed nothing. Worse yet, overselling the summit makes it harder to keep sanctions in place, further reducing pressure on NK to reduce (much less give up) its nuclear weapons and missiles.
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Threats vs N Korea, ridiculing its leader more likely to persuade NK to increase its nuclear weapons & missiles than limit them/give them up.
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Struck by the juxtaposition today of 2 stories: all we are doing to defend freedom in Ukraine, & the Ginni Thomas-Mark Meadows texts and all that was and is being done to undermine freedom & democracy here at home.
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That was the most discouraging, most depressing, most troubling 90 minutes I can recall. If you are not worried about the future of this country you were not watching.
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Devastating @nytimes story depicting the reality rather than the sound bite of the costly, morale-sapping misuse of US troops sent to a border not under threat and in any event already defended by the National Guard and Border Patrol
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Listening to President-elect Biden tonight, one is reminded the degree to which @realDonaldTrump was an aberration in his relationship to the country & the office. The challenge for American democracy is to ensure the Trump era is forever an aberration rather than an precedent.
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Think of how different US policy would likely be toward Russia & Ukraine (& NATO) if Donald Trump and not Joe Biden were president. Anyone who argues history is baked into the cake b/c of impersonal forces does not understand the difference that individuals can and do make.
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I wonder if any of those advising @realDonaldTrump on trade have pointed out the US hand would be far stronger vis-a-vis China if it had joined TPP and was confronting China not unilaterally but in concert w Japan and 10 others who with US constitute 40% of global economy.
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Our military hardware is not what impresses the world. Rather, it has been our democracy, respect for law, openness, universities, opportunity, economy, artists, mobility-in short, the characteristics that made America great. We need to get back to our roots, not stage parades.
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The idea that @SecPompeo can speak at #RNC2020 in his "personal capacity" betrays a basic misunderstanding. Any individual gives up his/her personal capacity to speak on foreign policy when he/she takes the job. It is public service, not political service.
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a month ago, the most promising political dynamic in Iraq was anti-Iranian nationalism, and in Iran, anti-gov't populism. Now both have been replaced by surging anti-Americanism. The regime in Tehran is now stronger, the one in Baghdad weaker. Not obvious how we are better off.
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Truly a sad and bad day for the United States, as TPP comes into force without us while US deciding on which countries to apply unwarranted and ill-advised tariffs. Abdication of 3/4 of a century of promoting a trade order that has served US eco and strategic interests.
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The White House walk back of @POTUS regime change call is unlikely to wash. Putin will see it as confirmation of what he’s believed all along. Bad lapse in discipline that runs risk of extending the scope and duration of the war.
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One can disagree with me & think the Biden administration was right to pull out all US troops from Afghanistan…but it is impossible to argue that it has gone about it in the right way. This looks to be both a major intelligence & policy failure with tragic consequences.
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The biggest casualty of @realDonaldTrump presidency may well be this country’s reputation for reliability. The abandonment of the Kurds adds to a pattern of turning on allies, cozying up to foes, and breaking agreements. US influence along with order in the world will plummet.
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Truly offensive to see @realDonaldTrump mock @GeorgeHWBush given 41’s 1) life of public service; 2) commitment to volunteerism; 3) critical role in ending Cold War peacefully and on our terms and then leading world in liberating Kuwait, the 1st test of post-cold war era.
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@realDonaldTrump Potus inciting violence vs journalists. Only a matter of time b4 someone actually does it. Expect this in Erdogan's Turkey, not in USA.
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sorry, but cursing in public is not speaking truth to power. if De Niro wanted to do something useful, he could have urged people to vote, defended the judiciary and media, explained how trade and allies are of value, or pointed out how immigrants have helped make America great.
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There is no good or complete substitute for the executive branch when it comes to national crisis, but one takeaway to last 2 months & tonight’s speech is that Congress, governors & mayors, private sector, & civil society will need to step up to get this country thru this ordeal.
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What makes Trump admin think it can act unilaterally on Jerusalem and threaten other governments and UN when US criticized for it-and then expect others to work with the US at the UN to pressure N Korea or Iran? Is nobody thinking strategically about relationships or priorities?.
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Listening to the full tape of @realDonaldTrump’s call, impossible not to wonder about long-term vulnerability of American democracy as well as whether/how US will ever be able to promote democracy elsewhere again.
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Iran is closer to a nuclear weapon than it was 4 years ago when @realDonaldTrump became president, & North Korea has more nuclear weapons and long range missiles than it did. That is the bottom line following 4 years of misguided foreign policy.
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My sense is that the outpouring of respect and affection for John McCain reflects just not who he is and has been but also the concern that it is not obvious who will be taking his place at a moment in our history we clearly need some profiles in courage.
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Amidst @realDonaldTrump, @larry_kudlow trashing of @JustinTrudeau, worth noting 1) US-Canada trade roughly in balance; 2) dairy miniscule % of the trade, 3) TPP would have increased US dairy access to Canada; 4) Canadian dairy program resembles nothing so much as US sugar program.
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Not joining global effort to produce a vaccine makes no sense. If there is a breakthrough, the US could find itself at the end of the que. Standing aloof also reduces the chance for a breakthrough. America 1st risks becoming America last & America alone.
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Just when I think my capacity for surprise exhausted (11/28 edition): Rex Tillerson justifying reductions in State Dept $/personnel in part from expectation US is going to succeed in getting some conflicts resolved. Really? Which? N Korea? Ukraine? S China Sea? Yemen? Israel-Pal?.
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.@realDonaldTrump doesnt accept CIA’s judgment re the Khashoggi murder, ignores his own administration’s report on climate change, and rejects evidence of Russian interference in 2016 election. This anti-intelligence, anti-science bias when it doesnt suit him is truly dangerous.
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Hard not to wonder to what extent those close to Putin thinking about & maybe even discussing what to do. It is not just that he is leading their country into ruin; they have to consider that their support for Putin will make them hunted war criminals for the rest of their lives.
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The decision not to produce or publish a Republican platform is a sad & troubling development. Elections are meant to provide choices in visions & policies as well as people. As Jefferson noted, democracy requires its citizen voters be informed, & this move undermines just that.
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The US presence in Germany is not a "forever war"; it is an investment in forever peace. Reducing US troop levels tempts further Russian aggression & increases allied doubts re US reliability. Doing so unilaterally adds insult to injury. #irresponsible.
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The risk of recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital is not that it will derail the peace process as there is no peace process w any real prospects. The risk is that it will increase tensions & lead to violence at a time there is more than enough tension & violence in the world.
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What makes the Afghanistan situation so frustrating is that the US & its allies had reached something of an equilibrium at a low sustainable cost. It wasn’t peace or military victory, but it was infinitely preferable to the strategic & human catastrophe that is unfolding.
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India’s careful, avoid angering Putin at all costs response despite Russia’s blatant aggression vs Ukraine highlights that it remains unprepared to step up to major power responsibilities or be a dependable partner. Disappointing as well as short-sighted given rise of China.
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@realDonaldTrump 1) There was no European military in WW1 or 2 as in both wars Europeans fought Europeans. 2) much of what US spends on defense has nothing to do w Europe. 3) Yes, Germany should spend more on defense, but US spending on NATO a reflection of US self-interest, not aid to Europeans.
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More Americans have lost their lives to #COVID19 than in Afghanistan or on 9/11. In days it will be more than in Iraq. In weeks it will be more than in all 3 combined. Tragic, but also infuriating, as it was largely avoidable. Little is inevitable. Policy & policymakers matter.
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@realDonaldTrump This tweet is offensive and uninformed. The former is obvious. RE latter, NATO is not about a pot of money that allies chip into but rather an alliance based on national effort and coordination that won the Cold War and is still needed to keep a peace serving US national interest.
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@realDonaldTrump I beg to differ w @realDonaldTrump. This is not insulting but rather what you get when the Potus raises doubts about NATO’s Article 5, slaps tariffs on allies, calls the EU a foe, cozies up to Putin, signals support for the National Front, and unilaterally breaks w int’l pacts.
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The Singapore summit statement is essentially aspirational: no definitions of denuclearization, no timelines, no details as to verification. What is most troubling about all this is that the US gave up something tangible, namely, US-RoK military exercises, in exchange.
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Watching the UK parliament, hard not to be struck by how robust its democracy seems, w politicians refusing to be enablers but instead putting principle before party, trying to stop a PM who is violating political norms & endangering the country’s future.
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There was a moment in Jan when closing US borders to all traffic might have made sense. But now 99% of the problem is transmission among the population here, so shutting down immigration can only be described as a political move, one irrelevant to the health & eco crises we face.
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Merkel saying Europe cannot rely on others & needs to take matters into its own hands is a watershed-& what US has sought to avoid since WW2.
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public lecturing of NATO allies unseemly & counterproductive; hard not to see contrast between this & overly-solicitous treatment of Saudis.
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The US vaccine export ban fails on humanitarian, economic, health, & strategic grounds. The problem in USA is too little demand whereas elsewhere it is too little supply. This counter-productive case of America first-ism needs to go as we help ourselves if we help others.
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We are seeing images that I never imagined we would see in this country-in some other capital yes, but not here. No one in the world is likely to see, respect, fear, or depend on us in the same way again. If the post-American era has a start date, it is almost certainly today.
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The purpose of foreign policy is not “to get along” w other countries. It is to shape the behavior of others in ways that are consistent w your interests and w international order. The measure of Helsinki is not whether Trump and Putin get along but how Russian behavior changes.
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Best line of @POTUS 3/11 speech: "We need to remember the government isn't some foreign force in a distant capital. No, it's us. All of us. We, the people." Time to jettison the notion of the deep state. Government matters, & we all benefit from the best & brightest joining it.
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The letter from @williammcraven2 standing by @JohnBrennan and saying he too should have his clearance revoked could well be the closest we have come to a Joseph Welch “Have you left no sense of decency?” moment that in many ways broke the McCarthy fever.
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Reports @realDonaldTrump planning to meet with Putin without staff present grounds for alarm given the stakes. Increases odds Potus will freelance and that there will be subsequent disagreement over what was said and agreed. Singapore hardly a reassuring precedent in this regard.
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it is a mystery to me why a 2nd referendum (now that we know what Brexit would entail) would be a betrayal of democracy (as PM May claims) when the initial referendum, taken without knowing what Brexit would entail and against a backdrop of misleading predictions, was legitimate.
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My thought on this July 4th is that the day has taken on a deeper meaning. In the past it was a time for family, friends & fun more than politics. This year there is a palpable sense that our democracy needs to be defended rather than just celebrated, much less taken for granted.
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.@realDonaldTrump said at UN "we are only going to give foreign aid to those who respect us and are our friends." actually, foreign aid is a tool used to protect US security interests, fight terrorists, combat disease, help refugees, promote democracy, expand trade, and more.
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