In the end, Trump was everything his haters feared—a chaos candidate, in the prescient words of one of his 2016 rivals, who became a chaos President. An American demagogue, he embraced division and racial discord, railed against a “deep state” within his own government, praised autocrats and attacked allies, politicized the administration of justice, monetized the Presidency for himself and his children…
Rea Here | The New Yorker
Big Tech’s post-insurrection backlash against U.S. President Donald Trump and the right-wing online incitement machine were unprecedented… There are three conclusions to draw about this whiplash reaction. First, Big Tech’s raw power to redirect online discourse. Second, the opacity, capriciousness and inconstancy with which they wield that power. Third, that Big Tech companies—some of the world’s most astute political actors—are nervous that the rules governing internet capitalism are about to drastically change.
Read Here | Foreign Policy
After years of poor policy and political tumult in the United States, it is not unreasonable to ask whether China’s currency will soon be in a position to challenge the greenback. While neither country has been doing itself any favours in the currency pageant, it is worth remembering that history is not on America’s side.
Read Here | Project Syndicate
In contrast to its populist predecessor’s faux pas, the new Democratic administration will primarily rely on veteran policy-makers and tried-and-tested experts to project American leadership in strategic regions such as Asia. The familiar background of his top appointees will likely facilitate their quick bipartisan approval in the Democratic-majority Congress.
Read Here | Asia Times
While news organisations have reported a number of these officials as being considered or expected to be Biden’s pick for the job, this is the most comprehensive list of who will be running the Pentagon when the president-elect is sworn in on Wednesday.
Read Here | Defense One
If ratified, then the CAI will be a de facto recognition that it is acceptable to conduct a wide range of business activity with a totalitarian communist government that has proven itself capable of violating human rights with exacting precision and no apology.
Read Here | The National Interest
The US is nowhere near as economically dominant as it was even a decade ago. Yet President-elect Joe Biden can take several relatively simple steps that would have far-reaching benefits for the US economy, the American people, and the rest of the world.
Read Here | Project Syndicate
During his first 100 days in office, U.S. President Donald Trump issued sweeping executive orders aimed at reversing and dismantling key elements of former President Barack Obama’s legacy and pushing an “America First” platform that upset decades of bipartisan consensus on foreign policy. Now, the reversal of Trump’s reversals is coming…
Read Here | Foreign Policy
Two emerging phenomena have worsened the situation enormously: new communications technologies have contributed to the disappearance of a common factual basis for democratic deliberation, and what were once policy differences between “blue” and “red” factions have hardened into divisions over cultural identity.
Read Here | Foreign Affairs
Biden’s career has been one of consistent investment in the idea that democracy and prosperity should be shared but also one of seeing the United States as a country like any other, whose internal prosperity and social cohesion ought to be paramount.
Read Here | Foreign Policy
