On Saturday, I watched the television coverage of Senator John McCain’s funeral service and I understood why I’ve always liked America; not Trump’s America, but Obama’s America, Clinton’s America and Bush’s America (now, anyway.) These three former presidents were there, deserving, defending the honor and the reputation of the United States. Admittedly, they acknowledged, not without a certain amount of humor, that McCain wasn’t perfect, and neither were they, but that the Arizona senator had helped them become better people and better presidents. It was nice to hear and it wasn’t too soppy either.
McCain, who choreographed his own send-off to exclude Trump, undoubtedly wanted to demonstrate that the United States would remain a great country, founded on the respect of the laws, honor, and the equal dignity of all its inhabitants. The speeches targeted and criticized, on a number of fronts, Trump’s fashion of devising and constructing politics. According to them, America deserved better. During the national funeral service, Trump was playing golf. Trump, a small petty man and McCain’s polar opposite. This is undoubtedly how history will judge him.
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.
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.