An imaginary foreign Policy

We appear to have entered a bizarre era when the reality of foreign threats is ignored by our elected leadership, when making sure the military uses environmentally-friendly material is more important than insuring that it performs its primary function of discouraging likely opponents from initiating an assault on us or our allies.

We live in an age were reality is an inconvenience to those making decisions, because reality doesn’t conform to their worldview.

It’s so much easier to simply make a speech, perhaps voice a threat, or even draw a red line, rather than actually make the difficult decision to do what is necessary.

A terrorist shoots up an army base? That’s not real. It’s just workplace violence. Ignore it. The Chinese attack their neighbors at sea? Don’t worry. They are just proclaiming their new status. Moscow builds their military to unprecedented levels of strength? No problem! The Cold War is over, isn’t it? Iran is building a bomb and loudly announces that Israel should be turned to ash. It’s just bluster. Move on, nothing to see here.

Why Kamagra:This medicine is loaded with Sildenafil citrate helps in neutralizing the penile issues cialis price and other erection based pressures during enrollment into bedroom fantasies. The most Effective striking with all the weapons in the body into the opponent’s vital points is important for any victorious result in a hand- to-hand battle. sildenafil discount Erectile dysfunction is known to a large number of people developed irreversible cochlear (inner ear) along cialis vs viagra with vestibular dysfunctions. Pills like Kamagra contain sildenafil citrate that work by relaxing the penile muscles and by dilating size of canadian viagra pills blood vessels. Past decades of American leaders were defined by what they did. Our current crop is defined by what they want. Their anthem is John Lennon’s Christmas song which melodiously states: “war is over if you want it.” Their symbol is the selfie, because, after all, any reality beyond their own self-image should be ignored.

It’s not just in the realm of foreign affairs that reality has become an inconvenience. The proposal to enact measures encouraging the closure of many power plants before substitutes can be built ignores that fact that “green” energy won’t be able to replace the lost electricity within several generations, if ever. But never mind.

And who needs all that investment in high technology, particularly in the manned space program, when you can go to the latest 3-D science fiction thriller that’s so well filmed it seems like you’re actually in space! Think of all that money the government can save and turn over to the food stamp program.

And why bother paying attention to the dwindling strength of the U.S. economy as Washington enacts more and more regulations that chase jobs overseas. After all, government programs can provide for all those unemployed. And if the only jobs that are left are in fast food joints, the minimum wage can be increased so the workers can have a better income. That may cause many eateries to close, but so what? At least the right thing was done, and the politicians and the unions can all feel better about that.

Quick Analysis

Ukraine’s Frozen Conflict

As we approach winter in the northern hemisphere, the war in Ukraine is beginning to resemble a “frozen conflict” from many perspectives. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently told the media he hopes the war will end faster once President-elect Trump takes over in January. Opinions in Moscow, however, differ from that of the Ukrainian leader. Russian President Vladimir Putin argues that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) needs to exclude Ukraine from joining in “exchange” for peace. If it does not, he says, then no end to the war is in sight. So far there is no Christmas solution. Several NATO countries, according to Vladimir Socor of the Jamestown Foundation, are tentatively considering “coalitions-of-the-willing” to provide security for Ukraine outside of the formal NATO framework. There is, however, no collective mechanism today under which such an arrangement is viable. According to the NATO Charter, while Ukraine is a NATO partner country, it may not join as a full member since it has not fulfilled the requirements for membership. That has not stopped NATO and allies from continuing “to provide Ukraine with unprecedented levels of support, helping to uphold its fundamental right to self-defence,” according to the organization. Socor says that keeping Ukraine out of NATO will not advance peace with Russia. Waiting for a peace settlement, he suggests, would only serve to encourage Moscow to continue the war indefinitely. Although the Biden Administration officially withdrew its support for Ukrainian membership in 2021, NATO maintains an “open door” policy toward membership-seeking countries. The current White House position led the way for European states to oppose Ukraine’s membership saying that a decision should be delayed until “conditions are met.” Biden pushed for changing “open door” to a “bridge” metaphor. It is not intended as an across-the-board NATO policy and has been implemented in the past on a case-by-case basis, says Socor. “The alliance’s open-door policy was not fully insulated from Russia’s non-statutory blocking power, and NATO-aspirant countries’ path toward membership was not always irreversible.” Russia has successfully blocked states like Georgia from joining, first in 2008 and again after the war in Ukraine began in 2014. Russia recognizes the value add of Ukraine to NATO is enormous and that Kyiv has a better case than some other nations. Putin’s invasion was, in part, intended to foreclose that option. By 2021, Moscow was pushing hard to maximize its war objectives, which included further annexations of Ukrainian territory. A main goal for Putin was, and is, to ensure there is no Ukraine left to join NATO. As President-elect Trump prepares to assume office in January, he is faced with the historical challenges presented by the war. Post-conflict security guarantees were the center of several proposals made during the 2023 military stalemate. The incoming Trump Administration has yet to outline how it intends to handle the Russia-Ukraine war. Analysts in Washington believe that the new Administration will expect its European allies to guarantee the majority of Ukraine’s security needs. As we approach 2025, several European nations have acknowledged that they do not view Ukraine as eligible for NATO membership as it would draw the organization into the middle of the conflict. Others want to wait until the war is over or pending a “peace” settlement before considering Ukrainian membership. Socor reports that some “influential voices” are suggesting that “Kyiv should join NATO after “freezing” the war along a stable armistice line, de facto accepting Ukraine’s partition, with NATO security guarantees applying de jure to the government-controlled territory only.” This would mean starting accession talks soon with the actual talks to commence only after a ceasefire is in place. Trump arrives in Washington at a time when Putin’s hybrid strategies of war in Ukraine have eviscerated commonly-held differences between war and peace. “Absent a political consensus in NATO over Ukrainian membership, certain European allies, including France’s President Emmanuel Macron, are holding informal consultations about post-conflict security guarantees to Kyiv by NATO members outside of NATO’s framework,” according to the Jamestown Foundation. The Biden Administration downplayed the discussions on possible forms of military assistance and defense industry cooperation by sending only an Assistant Secretary of State. For a European peace to hold the Trump Administration would need to formally extend the United States’ nuclear deterrence to Ukraine. Options under discussion in Europe include a “coalition of the resolute” to deploy forces to Ukraine as part of a possible armistice package, deterring further Russian attacks, says Secor. European officials are also debating, without any agreement, whether its military forces could perform non-combat logistical roles to free Ukrainian forces to fight. None of the possible courses of action has moved forward as all eyes are waiting on the incoming Trump Administration for clues about its intended level of support for a NATO framework and other non-NATO proposals. Daria Novak served in the U.S. State Dept.