[detbuch]

Originally Posted by JohnR

I think he is creating his own policy because what he says and what other senior / cabinet officials say do not always jive. And their responses tend to be more of a Bush era FP (which excepting Iraq was far better IMO than Obama's) but they have to temper their remarks so not to send the boss into a tizzy.

Agree on Putin's pushing to see what he can getaway with WRT Europe / NATO - which VVP actively wedges.

Agreed that Trump says a lot. But does it, in the end, amount to actionable policy? I admit I don't dig into the weeds of U.S. foreign policy, but does Trump actually craft foreign policies? He says things, but foreign policy is far more detailed and voluminous than the few things he has been reported to say. He has some opinions on entrenched sore points, such as Europe's inadequate funding of its NATO responsibilities. Maybe he has a few wishes, such as retribution for Syrian gas attacks, but he would have had to be briefed on the feasibility and leave the how and when to do it to the military.

What seems to be his personal policy toward Russia is cordial diplomatic relation and agreement rather than open hostility. And that seems to be eroding as Russia maintains its hostile stance and its apparent desire to get back territory. We were told that Trump was going to have us in some nuclear war by now, but it seems that he wants to carry a big stick but to walk softly.

And it may be a fault in some eyes that he sometimes criticizes the U.S. for doing what we accuse others of. I find it interesting that foreign governments, and our politicians and press are really upset because he doesn't come down hard on the Saudi Prince for the murder of Khashoggi. And yet we and all these countries have done the same. How many have been murdered by our CIA because they posed a threat to us? I don't know if Trump, on his own, decided not to damage our relations with Saudi Arabia, or if his advisors influenced him.

There are cracks. I also think it is easy to blame Trump for those cracks and far too easily (conveniently?) dismissed that every SecDef and CINCEUR for the past 20 years has told Europe Leaders again and again that they need to up their share for their own common defense. They only countries REALLY doing it are the former Soviet Block countries. This problem well predates Trump - can't blame him for that.



There are cracks. NATO's / EU's #1 powerhouse can sail, can't tank, and can't fly, but they have upped their NG imports from Putin. That is not a crack, it is a whole.

I guess I had a different notion of what the "cracks" are. I was referring to the mutual alliance between NATO member states re Russia. Is there really a threat that we would not stand together against Russia because of political, personal, or economic disputes between NATO nations? Or is the "crack" the military weakness of Europe, and the overall lack of will to fight against small advances by Putin?

If the crack is the disputes among member states, then that crack has been there for a long time. And that sort of crack is not reasonably fixed. It is Pollyanna to think that there will be no such disputes. I think it would be more dangerous to hide disagreements and breed secret hostilities that could rise up at critical times rather than openly hashing things out. And, as far public dressing downs that Trump has supposedly made, he has had more thrown his way from European leaders than he has given. If he is expected to have thick skin, then so should the rest of them so they can get down to the business of making it all work.