Re: NATO nonsense
Reply #285 –
ersi, ersi! Will you ever outgrow your fixation on the characterization of my political leanings> Probably not... But I'll ask the obvious question: What, during his long career, has Joe Biden ever been right about?
You'd like an "account of the effect Trump had on NATO and relations with Russia," eh? Okay.
NATO commitments (% of GDP for military in member-states) were more closely kept; not entirely incidentally giving them a more serious stake... (And, hopefully, more credibility!)
Russia didn't invade any of its neighbors during his presidency.
You'll admit that Trump and Putin are different kinds of unpredictable? Whether you will or not, each is more effective on the international stage because of their unpredictability. The problem with Putin is that where he's predictable he's delusional: The Russian Empire (ala the former Soviet Union) is not a salvageable project...
Likewise -I think- Trump recognized that America should not be the world's cop... (For which belief many still call him an Isolationist! A pejorative term, among the neo-conservative gaggle...) It is more often argued, "If not U.S., then who" — rather than consider a more humble position.
Gee, who was it that said (...nevermind the question; too easy to find it:) Thomas Jefferson Quote: “We are the friends of liberty everywhere, but the guarrantors of only our own.”