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| Triangular Diplomacy: Why Pres. Trump is right not to alienate Russia |
| 2018-07-20 |
| [Daily Caller] In the last few years, Russia and China have increased political, economic and military cooperation, as well as conducting joint diplomatic offensives against American interests, for example, in Afghanistan. No doubt the steps taken against Russia by the Obama Administration and the personal animus that developed between the then U.S. president and Vladimir Putin accelerated that cooperation. Writing in The Diplomat, Francis P. Sempa makes cogent historical points that should be seriously considered by the Trump administration in light of its relations with Russia and China: While these developments are not indicative of a Sino-Russian security alliance reminiscent of the Sino-Soviet bloc of the 1950s, they nevertheless should cause U.S. policymakers to reflect on diplomatic and policy options for ensuring the preservation of U.S. security interests and a favorable balance of power. The geopolitical threat posed by the Sino-Soviet bloc gradually receded when the Sino-Soviet split emerged and was successfully exploited by the Nixon administration with its famous ’opening’ to China. According to former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in his book "World Order," the key to triangular diplomacy was to balance "China against the Soviet Union from a position in which America was closer to each Communist giant than they were to each other." We now have the situation in reverse, to balance the power of an ascending China with a less dominant, but militarily potent Russia. Unnecessarily alienating Russia, either through politically-motivated or emotionally-satisfying gestures decoupled from the requirements of triangular diplomacy, is not in the national interest of the United States. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #1 Let's not annoy the town bully... he might make nice with the tongs. |
| Posted by: Lampedusa Snusoling1105 2018-07-20 08:26 |