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From Deep State Radio
TRUMP AND CHINA: THE LATEST EXAMPLE OF MUNCHAUSEN’S SYNDROME BY PROXY AS A FOREIGN POLICY
Today, Vice President Mike Pence made a speech in which he asserted that China does not like Donald Trump, that it wants a new president, and so it has launched an offensive that makes Russia’s 2016 attack on our elections “pale by comparison.” He offered no concrete new evidence of such a Chinese onslaught and the cynical observer (anyone with a functioning brain who has been in Washington for more than about an hour and a half) might conclude that Pence’s goals had less to do with national security or even a specific Chinese threat than it does to do with politics.
By singling out China, Pence seeks to achieve two goals. First, he wants to intensify the focus on Chinese as a bogeyman for this administration and its base. Trump runs by identifying threats and bad guys. It’s a standard play for demagogues everywhere. It works especially well with a Trump base that seems live on anger and the Tweets that fuel it. In 2016, Mexicans and refugees from Islamic countries and of course, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, were the bogeypersons. This year, the new targets seem to be the #MeToo movement and the Chinese. Not that Trump and Pence are giving up on the old favorites. And also not that going after women and in particular feminists and the Chinese was not part of the formula a couple years ago. It’s just a matter of shifting emphasis. Read More
Podcast: Second Verse Same as the First
Most of Deep State Radio’s cutting edge, youthful listeners are probably too young to remember the song the title references (“Mrs. Brown You Had a Lovely Daughter” by Herman’s Hermits). But so were all of us at Deep State Radio. We’re just very well educated. No, seriously. Except David. Who actually remembers it. Poor old guy. Anyway…the title refers to Donald Trump’s New-Improved-Yuge-Better-Than-Ever NAFTA which he has rebranded the USMCA (pronounced Us-Muck-Uh.) But what it really is the old NAFTA with a new paint job. Still, it’s better than a sharp stick in the eye (or the collapse of the old NAFTA). The only question is what does it mean for the future of US trade policy—especially with China and the EU. Our panelists including the Financial Times’ Ed Luce, IISS’ Kori Schake, Georgetown University’s Rosa Brooks and the Atlantic Council’s Evelyn Farkas discuss. Join us!. Listen
ANNALS OF DIPLOMACY: POMPEO BLAZES NEW TRAILS IN EMPTY GESTURES
In a bold move taken directly out of the diplomatic playbook of an 8 year-old, the United States terminated a 1955 treaty with Iran that had all the real world consequences of a little kid taking his ball and going home after a game of kick-ball had stopped going his way. Given that the U.S. and Iran have had hostile relations since 1979 and the taking of American hostages in that country, the 1955 treaty had had precious little effect on the overall arc of US-Iranian relations for approximately 40 years.
The move came because the Iranians had cited the treaty in a case they won at the International Court of Justice this week seeking an order to lift sanctions on humanitarian goods to China. Pompeo asserted that the old treaty had been often-violated and that the Iranians were simply angry that the U.S. had unilaterally pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal (which, of course, the U.S. had done). Read More
Stories We’re Watching
Netherlands Thwarts Russian Hacking
- The Guardian: Russia accused of cyber-attack on chemical weapons watchdog. Netherlands expelled four GRU officers after alleged attacks on OPCW and UK Foreign Office
- NL Times (Netherlands): Dutch Intelligence Service Stopped Russian Hackers Attacking OPWC
- Tass Russian News Agency: Dutch ‘OPCW hacker attack’ hype link in chain of massive anti-Russian crusade
FBI Indicts Seven Russians
- DOJ Press Release: U.S. Charges Russian GRU Officers with International Hacking and Related Influence and Disinformation Operations
- Lawfare: Seven GRU Officers Indicted for Hacking and Disinformation Operations
- FT: West Hits Back at Russian spying activities
Pence Speech Today
- Talking Points Memo: Pence: China Interferes In US Politics By Using Its Power In ‘Coercive Ways’
- South China Morning Post: US Vice-President Mike Pence increases jabs at China, says it wants to sabotage Donald Trump in elections
- The Diplomat: Pence on Political Interference: ‘China Wants a Different American President’
Iran, US, ICJ and the 1955 Treaty
Additional Coverage of the US decision to end the 1955 Treaty of Amity with Iran.
- Defense One: The US Just Tore Up a Six-Decade-Old Treaty With Iran
- Lawfare: What to Make of the ICJ’s Provisional Measures in Iran v. U.S. (Nuclear Sanctions Case)
- The Cipher Brief: Allies Resist U.S. Pressure on Iran
- Defense One: Trump Officials Target Iran, Raising Question of US Military’s Role in Mideast
Kavanaugh Updates
The FBI report on sexual assault allegations against Brett Kavanaugh have been turned over and reviewed by the Senate Judicial Committee.
- NBBC: Brett Kavanaugh: Senators review FBI inquiry report
- The Independent: Brett Kavanaugh: FBI report to go before senators after report claims White House ‘found nothing to corroborate sex assault claims’ in documents
- Wired: How the Kavanaugh Information War Mirrors Real Warzones
UK Accuses Russia of Cyber-Attacks, Election Interference
- The Guardian: UK accuses Kremlin of ordering series of ‘reckless’ cyber-attacks
- Sky News: UK blames Russian GRU for cyber attacks – and vows to respond. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt says Russian military GRU agents are responsible for ‘reckless and indiscriminate acts’
- Tech Crunch: UK says Russia’s GRU was behind a spate of chaotic cyber attacks between 2015 and 2017
Pew Global Attitudes Survey, America’s Terrible Image
- Full Report, Pew: Trump’s International Ratings Remain Low, Especially Among Key Allies. Most still want U.S. as top global power, but see China on the rise
- GZERO Media (Eurasia Group): Attitude Adjustment
- Moscow Times: In the Battle for Global Popularity, Putin Beats Trump — Pew Survey
- Japan Times: America’s image worsens under Trump
North Korea Nukes
- South China Morning Post: North Korea is unlikely to give up its nuclear deterrent without a change in ‘hostile’ US policy
- The Diplomat: US-North Korea Talks Are About to Spin Up Again: What Does Pyongyang Really Want?
- Small Wars Journal: The Likely Future of North Korea’s Nuclear Weapon Program
- War is Boring: For North Korea’s Denuclearization, Look to South Africa. And give diplomacy a chance
