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Which "worst impulses" are you concerned about controlling "right now"? Because the only impulse providing a check against Chinese and Russian national interest
by rrggrr 8y ago
Which "worst impulses" are you concerned about controlling "right now"? Because the only impulse providing a check against Chinese and Russian national interests globally, is the current administration's readiness to go to war - if necessary - to preserve a semblance of rule-of-law. US soft power hegemony was spent, utterly depleted during and after Gulf War II. Rebuilding it requires a hard power economic and military commitment no other candidate/administration was willing to undertake.
- macintux 8y agoIt's remarkable how different people can read the same actions in very different ways. "Rule of law" is not something I would ascribe as a high priority to the current U.S. administration.
- rrggrr 8y agoReally? Because the South China Sea dispute is an excellent example. Nobody supports China's sovereignty claim over the disputed islands. International law and custom does not support China's claim. Who is standing up for rule of law? The current administration. The same can be said of chemical weapons use in Syria, and Russian assassinations in the UK, trade manipulation by China, etc. Rule of Law isn't what you think it is, and it doesn't work in the manner you assume.
- empath75 8y agoLol, most of the republicans in the administration don't believe that international law even exists.
- JBReefer 8y agoYou're both right because you're talking about local laws and GP is talking about the post-war order, which is held together by American hegemony. It's not mentioned in the article, but people have argued that Nixon (who has a lot in common with Trump in general) held things together basically the same way https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madman_theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madman_theory