by Trita Parsi
The last thing America needs right now is a three-front foreign crisis. Yet here we are.
Americans are tired, at odds with themselves and in no shape to handle more foreign entanglements — much less the three-front catastrophe looming before us. Yet here we are, with the U.S. potentially facing a drawn-out war in Ukraine that risks escalating into a direct U.S.-Russia confrontation, the collapse of the Iran nuclear deal that may lead to war with the Persian Gulf power and now an unnecessary crisis with Beijing over Taiwan, triggered by Nancy Pelosi’s ill-advised trip to Taipei.
Biden steered America into conflict with Ukraine, Taiwan. Iran could be next.
Tag: Michael Swaine
On The ‘Woke’ Flight To Taiwan + More
On The ‘Woke’ Flight To Taiwan
That too old ‘woke’ lady with the massive freezer full of very expensive ice-cream let it know through Taiwanese media that she wants to arrive in Taipei tomorrow, August 2, at 22:30 local time (14:30 UTC) and stay over night.
…
There is also this thought, by Cynthia Chung, which might become relevant:
In October 2019, Jake Sullivan, who became U.S. National Security Advisor in 2021, stated in an interview that the U.S. needed a clear threat to rally the world and play the role of saviour of mankind and that China could be that organizing principle for U.S. foreign policy. In the 2019 interview, he acknowledges that the problem was that people were not going to believe that China is a global threat, that their view of China is too positive and that the United States would need a “Pearl Harbour moment,” a real focusing event to change their minds, something he calmly stated that “would scare the hell out of the American people.”
She correctly traces such ‘Pearl Harbour moment’ thinking back to neo-conservative movement. Chung closes with this:
Thus, when Jake Sullivan observes that there is not enough anti-China sentiment to bolster an image of the United States as a “saviour of mankind” against China and that America is in need of a “Pearl Harbour moment” I would be very wary.
The circus around Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan in the coming days, and evident glee that is coming forth from many of these neocons frothing at the mouth over this prospect is a clear sign that something incredibly reckless and stupid is about to happen.
Pelosi’s airplane might indeed be shot down on her completely irrelevant and unnecessary trip to Taiwan, and if it is, don’t be surprised if it was the Americans themselves who are behind it, who have shown they are willing to do anything for that “Pearl Harbour moment.”
Related:
Read More »Ukraine: Weapons Expert Urges Negotiation vs. “Military-First Approach”
Congress Is Waging a Two-Front Offensive Against China
A Better U.S. Strategy For East Asia
A Better U.S. Strategy For East Asia
When considering Chinese ambitions, the authors correctly note that “Beijing has not behaved as a wholesale revisionist power seeking to upend existing institutions.” Like other major powers, China seeks to use existing international institutions to its advantage, but it is not interested in trying to bring the current institutional order crashing down. Along the same lines, China has not been trying to export its political system. While Mike Pompeo has tried to cast China in the role of a revolutionary adversary bent on spreading its ideology abroad, the truth is that the Chinese government prefers to advance its interests and increase its influence in much the same way that other great powers have done for centuries.
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 