| | | | Three Big Questions for Trump | | President Trump is walking a tightrope during his ongoing trip to Asia, which is by far the most ambitious of his presidency so far, write Ely Ratner and Ashley Feng for NPR. Three storylines will determine if the President will keep his footing and reassure America's allies – or deepen fears that "the era of Pax Americana may finally be ending."
"America First" or American leadership?: "The fact that Trump is willing to go after U.S. allies like South Korea -- even at a time of crisis on the Korean Peninsula -- does and should have the region worried. Watch closely whether Trump's message on trade, including the speech he delivers at the APEC CEO Summit in Vietnam, tilts toward a positive and cooperative approach that works for the region or sounds like a darker warning that no trade deals or surplus trading partners are safe from punitive action."
A China-centric or region-wide strategy?: The Trump administration has indicated that it sees the Indian Ocean as a key strategic region, and India as a potential counterweight to China, Ratner and Feng suggest. "This harder line message toward Beijing will contrast sharply with the happy veneer of Trump's visit to China. Listen to hear if a clear Asia strategy emerges over the course of the trip or whether it sounds like a muddle of mixed messages."
Uniting the world or isolating the United States?: "Eliminating North Korea's ability to threaten the United States with nuclear weapons is Trump's cardinal priority in Asia. To date, the administration has had relative success -- including with China and at the U.N. Security Council -- bringing other countries along in the U.S.-led maximum pressure campaign.
"This is becoming more difficult, however, as the administration increasingly clarifies that it will not accept outcomes short of full denuclearization, something most experts agree is impossible without regime change or war."
| | If It's Too Soon to Talk About Sutherland Springs, What About… | | Claims by Republican lawmakers and others that it is too soon to talk about gun control in the wake of the Sutherland Springs shooting, which claimed 26 lives, seem sadly inevitable. Fine -- then let's talk about the almost daily mass shootings that have gone before it, the New York Times editorializes, including count up clocks for the time elapsed since some of these tragedies.
"To Republicans in Congress who might feel uneasy about responding to this tragedy with laws that might prevent the next one, we offer this grim reference. Rather than responding to Sutherland Springs, act as though the legislation was responding to the mass shootings in Las Vegas, Dallas, Orlando, San Bernardino, Colorado Springs, Roseburg, Chattanooga, Charleston, Marysville, Isla Vista, Fort Hood, Santa Monica, or Sandy Hook Elementary School, to name a few.
"If it is too soon to respond to Sutherland Springs, is it too soon to respond to these?" "Every conversation about gun deaths should begin by recognizing one blindingly clear fact about this problem -- the United States is on its own planet. The gun-related death rate in the United States is 10 times that of other advanced industrial countries. Places such as Japan and South Korea have close to zero gun-related deaths in a year. The United States has around 30,000.
"This disparity is the central fact that needs to be studied, explained and addressed. When seen in this light, it becomes obvious why focusing on mental health is a dodge. The rate of mental illness in the United States is not anywhere close to 40 times the rate in Britain. But the rate of gun deaths is 40 times higher. America does have more than 14 times as many guns as Britain per capita, and far fewer restrictions on their ownership and use. That's the obvious correlation staring us in the face, as we insist on talking about every other possible issue." | | The arrests at the weekend of dozens of princes, businessmen and current and former ministers as part of an anti-corruption drive, as well as the sacking of key ministers, have dramatically consolidated the power of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (frequently referred to as MBS), The Economist writes. But that power could come back to haunt him.
"To call all of this unprecedented would be an understatement. For decades, Saudi kings tried to forge consensus within the sprawling royal family. Change was incremental and power was divided, particularly among members of the so-called Sudairi Seven branch -- the sons of King Abdulaziz, the founder of the state, and his favorite wife, Hussa bint Ahmed Al Sudairi," The Economist says.
"Many ask themselves whether the Saudi palace purges are a sign of strength, or reflect nervousness about internal resistance to MBS's wrenching changes. Few believe the official talk of a clamp-down on corruption. In many ways, the latest arrests seem unnecessary. Aside from Prince Mutaib, the blacklisted officials are a weak lot."
"Still, the arrests send a message to other would-be critics. MBS, more than any other leader in decades, has fashioned himself the sole face of Saudi policy. If his ambitious plans falter, Saudis will know whom to blame." - A pitch for the young. Bin Salman's "anti-corruption posture" is aimed at appealing "to a younger generation of Saudis, rather than focusing on the traditional supporters among the royals, clerics and merchants," writes Jane Kinninmont for Chatham House.
"[Mohammed bin Salman] appears to be betting that a large constituency of young Saudis wants to see radical change in the way the country is governed. He seems to want to harness that sentiment in support of change that is driven from the top down, by him, rather than the bottom up, be that by protests, activists or more radical challengers."
| | President Trump travels to South Korea on Tuesday as part of his ongoing trip to Asia. The Korea Herald takes young anti-U.S. protesters to task in an editorial that warns against provoking the visiting President. "It is not totally groundless to say that Trump's tone and choice of words have contributed to escalating fears of war on the peninsula, but the real fear of war comes from the fact that there are nuclear weapons and long-range missiles in the hands of a young, unpredictable dictator of a rogue regime just to our north," the paper says.
Defense Secretary James Mattis heads to Brussels for a NATO defense ministers meeting starting Wednesday that is expected to include a decision on whether to approve a new North Atlantic Command aimed at countering growing Russian naval strength, writes Robin Emmott for Reuters. "It would be the first such expansion in two decades after NATO sharply cut back its commands in 2011."
President Trump arrives in China on Wednesday for a state visit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Douglas Paal writes for Project Syndicate that Trump must push China harder on market access issues. "Earlier this year, Trump praised China for making promises on this front, even though it had already made – and broken – the same promises to the Obama administration," Paal says.
Trump is also scheduled to head to Vietnam this week for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders' meeting, where he says he will likely meet with Vladimir Putin, among others.
| | | | | | |
No comments:
Post a Comment