I recently read an article by Curtis Yarvin (yes), in which he quoted Thomas Carlyle to the effect that the only remedy for the British Foreign Office would be if someone would set a live coal under it. I cannot think of a more apt sentiment to describe our own foreign policy.
It pains me to say this, but it makes absolutely no difference which party occupies the White House. While there are differences in style, to be sure, the policy is practically seamless. Democrats get twisted off about Syria and China, Republicans about Russia and Iran. One party may take the lead in pursuing the designated villain of the day, but both parties are fully in the hunt.
DJT wrecked the Iran nuclear deal for apparently no better reason than it was an Obama legacy. (Yet Biden sounded just as bellicose recently in Israel.) And here we have our octogenarian Speaker of the House—second in line to the Presidency—needlessly creating a crisis out of whole cloth, where one did not exist before. Pelosi claims that this trip is “part of this international remit that she feels she has, to travel the world promoting democracy.” Woodrow Wilson or George W. Bush could not have said it better. If there is one consistent thread from seventeen years of blogging, it is that I have never used those names in a laudatory or complimentary way. Mike Pompeo is enthusiastically on board with the junket, so it is even a bit Trumpy.
The thing about hubris is that it never goes unpunished. Now would be a good time to step away from the screen and take a look at your globe. (You don’t have a globe? Well, shame on you—particularly if there are children in the household.) Notice the extensive footprint of Russia, China, India and Iran, as well as the neighboring states that would naturally fall within their cultural or economic orbit. There is a clear coalition beginning to take shape.
Not everyone views Dugin’s Eurasian “Fourth Way” with as much derision as is common in the West. And look for non Eurasian nations to find this more attractive than continuing to dance to the tune we are playing. John Lukacs once said something to the effect that it wasn’t so bad to live at the End of an Age, as long as you understood what was happening. I find that comforting. I just think some are confused as to which Age is ending.
I'm reminded of a small group of would-be missionaries who had designs to travel to Greece to spread the good word. I believe the quote was "we want to make sure the Greeks have the Bible in their own language".
You may recall better than I though. ;)
The connection: With the exception of the imprisoned populace of the DPRK, and maybe some indigenous tribes removed from civilization scattered around the world, how many people are there left in the world Speaker Pelosi, who don't know about American democracy? How many of them do you actually think "just haven't heard of us yet"?
I hope you left them some copies of the constitution in Taiwanese.