Secretary Rubio’s ‘diplomatic masterstroke’ in Delhi unintentionally transformed political damage control into an involuntary roast of his own boss.
The Beijing summit did not produce a major agreement between the great powers on the region, but it firmly established that Middle Eastern crises are now deeply tied to the great-power dialogue.
During the Cold War, the United States occupied the apex of this triangular dynamic, pitting China and the USSR against each other. Today, it is Beijing that occupies that apex.
A summit that would normally send a reassuring message ... faces total uncertainty thanks to the weakness of the United States. The only person to blame for this is Trump.
But with a maniacal president who cannot tolerate even a simple difference of opinion, a country that dares not to comply with his demands turns into an enemy that must be eliminated.
[M]ore American troops will complicate US relations with its NATO ally Turkey and the bloody situation with Syria divided between rebel factions battling for dominance.