Trump's 'principled realism' is an incoherent mess
By Ishaan Tharoor September 20 at 1:00 AM
Most of the major headlines about President Trump's speech Tuesday at the U.N. General Assembly hinged on his bombshell threat to “totally destroy” North Korea. Trump declared that the “Rocket Man” — a.k.a. North Korean despot Kim Jon Un — was “on a suicide mission.” He raged at “loser terrorists” and the “murderous regime” in Iran, and startlingly suggested that parts of the world “are going to hell.”
“The speech was animated by a bellicosity and swagger that is unusual for the world body but has become a standard part of Trump’s approach at home,” wrote my colleagues. “He said that if the United States was compelled to defend itself or its allies that it would obliterate North Korea, a policy articulated by earlier administrations, albeit not in such Strangelovian terms.”
Link to tweet
But beyond Trump's now all-too-predictable bluster, there was a pronounced incoherence. Trump may have bombastically railed against a select group of enemies abroad and denounced the scourge of socialism, but his speech was not quite that of your typical Republican hawk. The “America first” president returned to consistent themes from his earlier foreign policy speeches, harping on the preeminence of national “sovereignty” — the word, as well as “sovereign,” appeared 21 times in his remarks — and his desire to take care of his own people rather than worry about the rest of the world.
“In America, we do not seek to oppose or impose our way of life on anyone, but rather to let it shine as an example for everyone to watch,” Trump said.
Link to tweet
He also attempted to play the pragmatist: “We want harmony and friendship, not conflict and strife. We are guided by outcomes, not ideologies. We have a policy of principled realism, rooted in shared goal, interests, and values.”
With “principled realism,” Trump was repeating a line he voiced in Saudi Arabia this year. That speech was penned by White House adviser Stephen Miller, a virulently anti-immigrant Svengali who has kept his post despite the departure of other prominent nationalist Trump advisers. Miller's fingerprints were all over Tuesday's speech, with Trump conjuring a vision of a new world order where “strong, sovereign nations let diverse countries with different values, different cultures, and different dreams not just coexist, but work side by side on the basis of mutual respect.” How this sentiment can sit alongside Trump's threats to various countries is anyone's guess.
more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/09/20/trumps-principled-realism-is-an-incoherent-mess/?utm_term=.4a31525418fa
= new reply since forum marked as read
