Trump is Wile E. Coyote
“Beep beep” was the subject line of an email message I received a few weeks ago from former CIA analyst Robert Carlin, as Kim Jong Un was accelerating his diplomatic charm offensive. “So typical,” wrote Carlin in his brief text. “The North Koreans as Road Runner, the U.S. as Wile E. Coyote.”
Carlin makes a point that applies to many foreign policy problems around the world. When it comes to global diplomacy, America under President Trump has become something of a hapless cartoon villain, detonating bombs on itself and running into walls — while our nimbler adversaries dart away in a blur of dust.
“Heavy-handed” is one word for Trump’s foreign policy. “Unsuccessful” is another. His strategy, if you can call it that, has been to disrupt America’s traditional economic and security relationships and commitments. He must imagine that this gives him new leverage, but mostly the result has been a series of self-inflicted wounds.
Trade is the most obvious example of Trump’s clumsiness. While our economic competitors in China move to seize the commanding heights of technology, in artificial intelligence, quantum computing and robotics, Trump is trying to protect jobs in steel, coal and other industries that have been in decline for nearly 50 years. He seems determined to transform the United States into a lagging indicator, rather than a leading one.
In the Korea drama, a slow-footed America will soon be paired with the diplomatic speedster. Certainly, Thursday night’s announcement of Trump-Kim direct talks is promising, and perhaps evidence that the president’s braggadocio and belligerence have produced results. But what I see is a North Korea that has become a nuclear-weapons state and now, from a position of strength, wants negotiations with America.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/trump-is-wile-e-coyote/2018/03/08/bc0cac60-2313-11e8-86f6-54bfff693d2b_story.html?utm_term=.657694fa996d&wpisrc=nl_rainbow&wpmm=1
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