President Trump’s Surprising Grand Strategy

From Professor Barry Posen, at Foreign Affairs, "The Rise of Illiberal Hegemony":

On the campaign trail, Donald Trump vowed to put an end to nation building abroad and mocked U.S. allies as free riders. “‘America first’ will be the major and overriding theme of my administration,” he declared in a foreign policy speech in April 2016, echoing the language of pre–World War II isolationists. “The countries we are defending must pay for the cost of this defense, and if not, the U.S. must be prepared to let these countries defend themselves,” he said—an apparent reference to his earlier suggestion that U.S. allies without nuclear weapons be allowed to acquire them.

Such statements, coupled with his mistrust of free trade and the treaties and institutions that facilitate it, prompted worries from across the political spectrum that under Trump, the United States would turn inward and abandon the leadership role it has played since the end of World War II. “The US is, for now, out of the world order business,” the columnist Robert Kagan wrote days after the election. Since Trump took office, his critics have appeared to feel vindicated. They have seized on his continued complaints about allies and skepticism of unfettered trade to claim that the administration has effectively withdrawn from the world and even adopted a grand strategy of restraint. Some have gone so far as to apply to Trump the most feared epithet in the U.S. foreign policy establishment: “isolationist.”

In fact, Trump is anything but. Although he has indeed laced his speeches with skepticism about Washington’s global role, worries that Trump is an isolationist are out of place against the backdrop of the administration’s accelerating drumbeat for war with North Korea, its growing confrontation with Iran, and its uptick in combat operations worldwide. Indeed, across the portfolio of hard power, the Trump administration’s policies seem, if anything, more ambitious than those of Barack Obama.

Yet Trump has deviated from traditional U.S. grand strategy in one important respect. Since at least the end of the Cold War, Democratic and Republican administrations alike have pursued a grand strategy that scholars have called “liberal hegemony.” It was hegemonic in that the United States aimed to be the most powerful state in the world by a wide margin, and it was liberal in that the United States sought to transform the international system into a rules-based order regulated by multilateral institutions and transform other states into market-oriented democracies freely trading with one another. Breaking with his predecessors, Trump has taken much of the “liberal” out of “liberal hegemony.” He still seeks to retain the United States’ superior economic and military capability and role as security arbiter for most regions of the world, but he has chosen to forgo the export of democracy and abstain from many multilateral trade agreements. In other words, Trump has ushered in an entirely new U.S. grand strategy: illiberal hegemony...

More.

Leftists Allege U.S. Separating Illegal Alien Families

Actually, that sounds like a plan. But to leftists, it's just evidence that immigration enforcement is evil.

At the Los Angeles Times, "U.S. is separating immigrant parents and children to discourage others, activists say."

Collapse of the Global Elite

From Professor Eliot A. Cohen, at the Atlantic, "Witnessing the Collapse of the Global Elite."

Everyone at #MSC2018 is a has-been. Same with Davos. No new ideas coming out of any of these ego-stroking circle jerks. https://t.co/XudyBjcudW

— Milena Rodban (@MilenaRodban) February 20, 2018

Cold Weather Forecast

I was in Fresno over the weekend and blogging was sporadic. I missed posting Jennifer Delacruz's forecast. (She's so lovely.)

Meanwhile, here's Garth Kemp, for CBS News 2 Los Angeles:

West Boca High School Students March to Protest Gun Violence (VIDEO)

At the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, "Student walkouts underway in push for gun law changes and school safety."

Nikolas Cruz Was Reported Over 30 Times (VIDEO)

Here's Dana Loesch, for the N.R.A.:



And see, "Warning signs in Florida school shooting have officials taking a hard look at procedures."

Katherine Heigl Selfies

At Drunken Stepfather, "KATHERINE HEIGL SLUTTY SELFIES OF THE DAY."

Claudia Romani in Sheer Black Dress

At London's Daily Mail, "Playboy pin-up Claudia Romani exhibits her model body as she wears a see-through dress with nothing but a black satin lingerie set."

Also, at Egotastic!, "Claudia Romani Sexy Valentines Lingerie Shoot."

The Dark Stain of American Gun Exceptionalism

Boy, each new shooting brings out more and more of the worst people. And even military personnel can go batshit crazy on stuff like this.

Freaky.

At Task & Purpose, "The View From Afghanistan: The Dark Stain of American Gun Exceptionalism."

The View From Afghanistan: The Dark Stain Of American Gun Exceptionalism (Jared Keller / Task & Purpose)https://t.co/T21r1MrogPhttps://t.co/QstzI32Z8D

— memeorandum (@memeorandum) February 21, 2018

Samantha Hoopes in Tropical Nevis (VIDEO)

The new Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition is on newsstands.

Here's the lovely Ms. Samantha:

Steve Coll, Directorate S

Andrew Bacevich had an excellent review in yesterday's New York Times.

And at Amazon, Steve Coll, Directorate S: The C.I.A. and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

James Forman, Jr., Locking Up Our Own

Now out in paperback.

At Amazon, James Forman, Jr., Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America.

Chloe Benjamin, The Immortalists

This looks intriguing.

At Amazon, Chloe Benjamin, The Immortalists.

If you knew the date of your death, how would you live your life?

It's 1969 in New York City's Lower East Side, and word has spread of the arrival of a mystical woman, a traveling psychic who claims to be able to tell anyone the day they will die. The Gold children—four adolescents on the cusp of self-awareness—sneak out to hear their fortunes...

Barbara Palvin Returns (VIDEO)

At Sports Illustrated Swimsuit:

Blake Lively Fitness

At Drunken Stepfather, "BLAKE LIVELY GOES BOTTOMLESS OF THE DAY."

Deep Jennifer Lopez

At Drunken Stepfather, "JENNIFER LOPEZ OF THE DAY."

Parkland Shooter Nikolas Was Mentally Disturbed

And apparently he's on the autism spectrum and at some point had been taking medications for ADHD.

Leftists now are decrying talk about mental health, claiming it's a ruse to divert attention from "common sense" gun control, as always.

At the South Florida Sun-Sentinel:

#Parkland #Florida #NikolasCruz https://t.co/wD2o0zQM5T

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) February 17, 2018

BREAKING: FBI ignored warning that Nikolas Cruz might conduct school shooting https://t.co/DUwBWvyZyj pic.twitter.com/w6sEnrWeM5

— Sun Sentinel (@SunSentinel) February 16, 2018

Nikolas Cruz was regularly in trouble at school for years, disciplinary records show - Sun Sentinel https://t.co/UvZSfixgC4

— Sun Sentinel (@SunSentinel) February 18, 2018

Leftists Turn to Connecticut in Wake of #Parkland Massacre

I guess it's better to push radical policy change at the state level, closer to the people. But this time as previously, mental illness appears to be the single biggest factor contributing to the carnage.

Leftists never learn.

At NYT, "In Wake of Florida Massacre, Gun Control Advocates Look to Connecticut."

In the wake of the Florida school shooting, gun-control advocates are pointing to the success of Connecticut in addressing the spiraling toll of gun violence https://t.co/hFeZnBzkUs

— The New York Times (@nytimes) February 18, 2018

Parkland Shooting Survivors Plan March on Washington

Well, we'll see how this turns out. When you "march on Washington," people expect massive crowds, filling the public spaces. We're talking hundreds of thousands of people. That's a tall order, especially to organize in six weeks.

We are all sickened by what happened in FL last week, but we cannot ignore these tragedies any longer. I am so inspired to see the students of Parkland & kids all over this country standing up to the status quo. On March 24, we march. Join us. #MarchForOurLives @MarchForOurLives pic.twitter.com/2v3yABKYn3

— Josh Gad (@joshgad) February 18, 2018

Watch these kids from Parkland speak to politicians- “At this point you are either with us or against us”. https://t.co/6hO6SJhYGe

— Julianne Moore (@_juliannemoore) February 18, 2018

Boston Globe Front-Page on #Parkland Shootings: 'We Know What Will Happen Next'

Hmm, more of the same old gun control hysteria, this time at the Boston Globle: "Parkland. Las Vegas. Sutherland Springs. Newtown. On and on: In America, mass shootings have become so familiar that they seem to follow the same sad."

Wow. Boston Globe front today is something else. pic.twitter.com/oxCdXqN9YO

— Ali Watkins (@AliWatkins) February 16, 2018