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BONOKOSKI: American power now an illusion amid rise of Communist China
Mark Bonokoski
Nov 26, 2020
Secretary of State nominee Antony Blinken speaks after being introduced by President-elect Joe Biden as he introduces key foreign policy and national security nominees and appointments at the Queen Theatre in Wilmington, Delaware on Nov. 24, 2020. PHOTO BY MARK MAKELA /Getty Images
Now that U.S. President Donald Trump has given his “permission” (but no concession) to President-elect Joe Biden to begin his transition to the White House — and loosening up the money to do so — Biden has begun naming his cabinet with insider moderates.
As opposed to Trump tapping more extreme outliers of the Republican Party like Mike Pompeo, Biden’s choice of Antony Blinken as secretary of state is straight from traditional central casting, a diplomat who began his quiet ascension back when Bill Clinton was president.
In fact, he has been close to Biden for many years, including as a longtime aide and as deputy secretary of state during Biden’s two terms as vice-president under former president Barack Obama.
He’s been called Biden’s “alter ego.”
And, unlike the blustery and tone-deaf Pompeo, Blinken is an accomplished guitarist — playing a Martin D28 left-handed — who loves jam sessions, Beatle music and has two ballads on Spotify, Patience and Lip Service, the latter about unrequited love.
According to the Washington Post, Blinken took information about his musical chops off his Twitter bio the day he was named secretary of state.
And thus ended the fun and frivolity.
While Biden railed against Trump during the election campaign for putting a stain on the United States’ international reputation, and promised a change of course that was essential in maintaining America’s place in the world, first place was already all but lost.
And it had nothing to do with Trump, writes Richard Hanania, a research fellow at Defence Priorities, and everything to do with the rise of the Communist-ruled People’s Republic of China.
“It is important that we not fool ourselves into believing Trump fundamentally changed U.S. foreign policy, nor that the results of the last election will transform the U.S. role in the world,” said Hanania.
“America will find itself in the coming years taking a less dominant place in international affairs, but not because of the outcome of this election or the last one.
“Instead, this transition is taking place because geopolitical and economic realities, mainly the rise of China, are forcing that course upon Washington,” he contends.
He maintains that, despite Trump’s bombastic rhetoric, his presidency was characterized by a continuity of the Obama years rather than change.
“The rise of China creates new economic and geopolitical realities that cannot be wished away,” writes Hanania.
“In the coming years, American leaders will have to realize that the days of unilaterally isolating rogue regimes at will are over, and the future of East Asia will depend more on what happens in Beijing than in Washington.”
And it’s well underway.
“Already, the U.S. is angry at allies like South Korea and the Philippines for being more willing to accommodate Beijing than to balance against it,” says Hanania.
“Such frustrations will grow in the future. In mid-November, China and 14 other countries signed a free trade agreement that will shape global politics for decades to come and cement Beijing’s natural role as the center of the Asia-Pacific region.”
That agreement, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), has been called arguably the largest free trade agreement in history.
As Brookings Institute surmised when the deal was inked, the U.S. “needs to rebalance its economic and security strategies to advance not only its economic interests, but also its security goals.”
So Blinken has his work cut out.
Consider, for example, that in 1990 the U.S. GDP was 17 times that of China.
Today, China has essentially surpassed the U.S., or will soon.
The hope of maintaining American power at the same level is therefore an undeniable illusion.
torontosun.com
Mark Bonokoski
Nov 26, 2020
Secretary of State nominee Antony Blinken speaks after being introduced by President-elect Joe Biden as he introduces key foreign policy and national security nominees and appointments at the Queen Theatre in Wilmington, Delaware on Nov. 24, 2020. PHOTO BY MARK MAKELA /Getty Images
Now that U.S. President Donald Trump has given his “permission” (but no concession) to President-elect Joe Biden to begin his transition to the White House — and loosening up the money to do so — Biden has begun naming his cabinet with insider moderates.
As opposed to Trump tapping more extreme outliers of the Republican Party like Mike Pompeo, Biden’s choice of Antony Blinken as secretary of state is straight from traditional central casting, a diplomat who began his quiet ascension back when Bill Clinton was president.
In fact, he has been close to Biden for many years, including as a longtime aide and as deputy secretary of state during Biden’s two terms as vice-president under former president Barack Obama.
He’s been called Biden’s “alter ego.”
And, unlike the blustery and tone-deaf Pompeo, Blinken is an accomplished guitarist — playing a Martin D28 left-handed — who loves jam sessions, Beatle music and has two ballads on Spotify, Patience and Lip Service, the latter about unrequited love.
According to the Washington Post, Blinken took information about his musical chops off his Twitter bio the day he was named secretary of state.
And thus ended the fun and frivolity.
While Biden railed against Trump during the election campaign for putting a stain on the United States’ international reputation, and promised a change of course that was essential in maintaining America’s place in the world, first place was already all but lost.
And it had nothing to do with Trump, writes Richard Hanania, a research fellow at Defence Priorities, and everything to do with the rise of the Communist-ruled People’s Republic of China.
“It is important that we not fool ourselves into believing Trump fundamentally changed U.S. foreign policy, nor that the results of the last election will transform the U.S. role in the world,” said Hanania.
“America will find itself in the coming years taking a less dominant place in international affairs, but not because of the outcome of this election or the last one.
“Instead, this transition is taking place because geopolitical and economic realities, mainly the rise of China, are forcing that course upon Washington,” he contends.
He maintains that, despite Trump’s bombastic rhetoric, his presidency was characterized by a continuity of the Obama years rather than change.
“The rise of China creates new economic and geopolitical realities that cannot be wished away,” writes Hanania.
“In the coming years, American leaders will have to realize that the days of unilaterally isolating rogue regimes at will are over, and the future of East Asia will depend more on what happens in Beijing than in Washington.”
And it’s well underway.
“Already, the U.S. is angry at allies like South Korea and the Philippines for being more willing to accommodate Beijing than to balance against it,” says Hanania.
“Such frustrations will grow in the future. In mid-November, China and 14 other countries signed a free trade agreement that will shape global politics for decades to come and cement Beijing’s natural role as the center of the Asia-Pacific region.”
That agreement, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), has been called arguably the largest free trade agreement in history.
As Brookings Institute surmised when the deal was inked, the U.S. “needs to rebalance its economic and security strategies to advance not only its economic interests, but also its security goals.”
So Blinken has his work cut out.
Consider, for example, that in 1990 the U.S. GDP was 17 times that of China.
Today, China has essentially surpassed the U.S., or will soon.
The hope of maintaining American power at the same level is therefore an undeniable illusion.
BONOKOSKI: American power now an illusion amid rise of Communist China
Now that U.S. president Donald Trump has given his “permission” (but no concession) to President-elect Joe Biden to begin his transition to the White House — and lo…
