Random observations to pierce the Trumpian bluster and noise
it’s only been 30 days in this New Year
The past 12 days have been a rollercoaster of Trumpian reactive oxygen-sucking media cycles, ranging from the “i got a bigger nuke button” to Wolff’s Fire&Fury to the shithole controversy.
Sober, rational analysts of our current feverish “moment” are few and far between — Tom Nichols, Noah Rothman Ian Bremmer are among those trying to provide sustenance to those of us who are interested in the immediate and mid-long term consequences of the circus show that started on the gold plated escalator in 2015.
Throwing my hat into the ring, some random observations to pierce the Trumpian-media feedback loop:
1- Trump’s #Outsourced Presidency could have lasting consequences as it paradoxically shows: a- having an utterly uninformed/uninterested President does not prevent smart decisions to occur, particularly in foreign policy b- that the inherent powers of the White House pulpit within the separation of powers are actually quite feeble, especially in the hands of someone who takes his cues from Fox&Friends
2- NAFTA and its possible breakup will be a test of how much power the realists (McMaster, Mnuchin, Kushner) have vs the fire breathers (Miller)
3- Just as with the Bush 43 era the US “brand” is taking a huge hit around the world — and this could have a silver lining as the world inexorably re-organizes sans hegemon
4- Trump’s shithole comment re Africa shows he is unaware that the continent is going thru unprecedented growth and that a rising middle class is starting to buy foreign goods, just as happened in China and India a decade and a half ago.
5- China’s shrewd moves in Europe (buying Athens’ Piraeus port) and in Africa (everywhere) take advantage of US myopia and Europe’s bad rep. The Silk Project is getting too little coverage IMO, if built, it could remake the global trade map and leave the US durably on the outs.
6- Europe, a 500 million-strong near-federation of advanced economies, is forced to rethink its role w/o a strong US backing and IMO this is for the better.
7- Even though it cannot change its geographic location Canada will also be forced to rethink the weight of the US in its economy and connect more deeply with Europe, Asia and Africa
8- umair haque has been documenting how wrongheaded the Anglosphere has gone in the past few years — the question is how far in the abyss the US&UK need to go down before rebounding
9- as I wrote in 2015 there’s a nagging resurgence of conspiracy theories that x or y is pulling all the strings worth pulling, my personal analysis: the world is rudderless and that is both scary and exhilarating, embrace it ! 12/ (end for now)
