China: After 9/11, China grew into a superpower as a distracted U.S. fixated on terrorism, experts say

As the U.S. was bogged down fighting Islamist militants in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere, China's economic and military power grew exponentially. Beijing built up its missile arsenal, extended its reach in the South China Sea by constructing artificial islands, stole intellectual property on a massive scale and pursued predatory trade tactics, experts say.

"After 9/11, China very quickly realized that Washington's strategic focus would be shifting 3,000 miles away, away from the East China Sea, away from the Taiwan Strait and into Afghanistan," said Craig Singleton of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a think tank. "It was an opportunity to quietly develop very coercive military capabilities that were all designed and intended to expand its power in East Asia."

Read more at: After 9/11, China grew into a superpower as a distracted U.S. fixated on terrorism, experts say

USA: The Careless Superpower

President Donald Trump has made the United States into an unreliable ally, a loose cannon on turbulent terrain, and a careless superpower—careless in both senses of the word, meaning reckless and without care, oblivious to the consequences of its conduct. 

Four incidents, just this past week, clinch the case. First, and most notorious, was Trump’s comment, during a state visit by Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, about the war in Afghanistan. “If I wanted to win that war,” Trump said, “Afghanistan would be wiped off the face of the earth.” He added, “I could win that war in a week. I just don’t want to kill 10 million people.” 

On an obvious level, the remark was merely stupid and callous. On a deeper level, it reflects a profound ignorance about war in general and the war in Afghanistan in particular—and should give ulcers to the leader of any country that depends on the U.S. for its security. 

“This is a bad regime,” Pompeo said. The recent back-and-forth, involving seized tankers and shot-down drones, is happening not because of Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal and his imposition of sanctions, but rather “because the theocracy, the leadership in Iran, their revolutionary zeal to conduct terror around the world, for now four decades, continues.” He added, “I am ultimately convinced that the Iranian people will get the leadership behavior that they so richly deserve.” 

If anyone still needed proof that regime change is the true policy of the Trump administration—or at least of its top diplomat—there it was. 

As long as Pompeo’s message is regime-change-or-nothing (and as long as Trump says nothing to contradict this), the Iranians will have no incentive to return to the talks, and EU nations will keep seeking ways to circumvent Washington’s policies. Allies are good to have in wars and diplomatic confrontations; by alienating them, Trump and Pompeo are thus weakening their own position.

Read more at: Trump’s Afghanistan remarks were one more example of his utter carelessness.

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inthenews.co: EU 'most popular superpower'

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EU 'most popular superpower'

People across the world like to see the European Union become more influential, a large-scale study has found. The study, which quizzed 57,000 people across 52 countries, found that the EU was "unique among the four big powers [China, the EU, Russia and the United States] in that no one wants to balance its rise". According to the European council on foreign relations (ECFR), which sponsored the research, 35 per cent of world citizens want the 27-member bloc to grow in power. In contrast, China and Russia emerged from the research with a net balance of six per cent and eight per cent of respondents wishing to see their influence decline respectively.People in Turkey and Russia were found to be most against a rise in Washington's supremacy, closely followed by Canadians and Latin Americans. Of the 52 countries polled only Senegal and Hong Kong wanted to see Tehran's global standing increase, with Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the US most anxious.