Category: Foreign Policy
President Trump’s Selfish Nationalism is Self-Defeating
According to U.S. President Donald Trump, a globalist “is a person that wants the globe to do well, frankly, not caring about our country so much. And you know what? We can’t have that.” In sum, “globalists” are bad, according to Trump, because they are not narrowly patriotic enough; a true globalist embraces the whole human race, and thus is a traitor to his … Read More President Trump’s Selfish Nationalism is Self-Defeating
For the International Day of Peace: A Brief Reflection
Today the whole planet–at least the human part– celebrates the United Nations created International Day of Peace, first established in 1981. This year’s theme honors the 70th anniversary of the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights by suggesting “the right to peace”, a right not explicitly declared in the UDHR. If we think of peace as a human right (the right not to be … Read More For the International Day of Peace: A Brief Reflection
Why I am a “bleeding-heart liberal”
To be “liberal” is to be “open to new ideas” and “favourable to or respectful of individual rights and freedoms.” Given the above definition, can a true liberal be a promoter or defender of that most ancient flaw of humanity–war? Is such a thing as a “liberal hawk” logical or possible? One of the oldest ideas in all of human civilization is the idea … Read More Why I am a “bleeding-heart liberal”
It’s no crime for ICC to investigate U.S. war crimes
Back in November of 2016, the prosecutor at the International Criminal Court, founded in 2002, stated that she had reason to believe that American soldiers were guilty of war crimes, including torture, in Afghanistan. The ICC statement said there was “a reasonable basis to believe” that “members of United States of America (US) armed forces and members of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) committed … Read More It’s no crime for ICC to investigate U.S. war crimes
President Trump cancels diplomatic trip to North Korea, blaming everyone else
Blaming North Korea and China rather than his premature announcement in June that “There is no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea,” President Trump tweeted today that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo would not visit North Korea as planned because of insufficient North Korean progress toward denuclearization. But Trump apparently did not want North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un to take the snub too … Read More President Trump cancels diplomatic trip to North Korea, blaming everyone else
Ocean Plastic Pollution: Trump administration has its head stuck in a (plastic) bottle
You may have missed the news (as I did) that back in June, when the G-7 group of nations met in Canada, the United States, led by the Trump administration, opted not to sign a joint declaration to address the critical problem of plastic pollution in the world’s oceans. Known as the “Ocean Plastics Charter”, it was signed at the G-7 summit by Canada, … Read More Ocean Plastic Pollution: Trump administration has its head stuck in a (plastic) bottle
Banishing Our Diplomats
By John Frederick Kaufman The newest foreign policy news today is that Russia has retaliated for the expelling of Russian diplomats (some of whom are said to be spies) by both European nations and the United States. Russian diplomats were banished from our shores by President Trump (in a rather quiet, un-Trumpian manner) in response to the nerve-agent poisoning in England of a former Russian double agent … Read More Banishing Our Diplomats
