tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163441833245663827.post2299485532023540307..comments2024-03-18T14:34:31.684-05:00Comments on Horizons: President Obama on Finding OpeningsNancy LeTourneauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12614317154146836694noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163441833245663827.post-88149214740235632192015-08-10T17:16:08.409-05:002015-08-10T17:16:08.409-05:00We can't take the behavior of Russia and China...We can't take the behavior of Russia and China out of context with our own behavior. We invaded Iraq. Full Stop.zlydonnanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163441833245663827.post-20071967840162439812015-08-08T13:58:29.952-05:002015-08-08T13:58:29.952-05:00It's no calculated risk at all. I think I just...It's no calculated risk at all. I think I just pretty definitely proved it doesn't matter if a society "liberalizes" or not. What difference has it made? We do business with everybody now. There was never a World War III. Levels of war are at historic global minimums. Diplomats have pretty much only ever got their way in any of our lifetimes, I'm just pointing out that the empirical record has confounded optimistic projections.<br /><br />I don't think Americans understand how societies can remain functioning in times of deprivation and scarcity, and how that confines possibilities for political and social upheaval. Certainly it's chic to view Iran as a bunch of secret Western liberals who love women and homosexuals and are only being kept down by the bad men, but if it doesn't really pan out it's a quick jaunt off to the next redemptive case in waiting. I remember when the Arab Spring was the great breakthrough of our times.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163441833245663827.post-35941035207302302522015-08-08T10:49:07.235-05:002015-08-08T10:49:07.235-05:00Infidel753 - this is one of those times I really w...Infidel753 - this is one of those times I really wish I had an "uprate" button for comments. Thanks so much for that one!!Nancy LeTourneauhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12614317154146836694noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163441833245663827.post-64625205329477295112015-08-08T09:50:08.790-05:002015-08-08T09:50:08.790-05:00Good points, Infidel. Thank you for taking the ti...Good points, Infidel. Thank you for taking the time.VCnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163441833245663827.post-3580631418781126582015-08-08T07:38:03.577-05:002015-08-08T07:38:03.577-05:00There is far more fervent sentiment among the Iran...There is far more fervent sentiment among the Iranian people for opening up to the West and building a freer society than in China or Russia, and a lot less of the toxic and paranoid nationalism that saturates those places (though Iran does have its nationalist fanatics too). Even in an ideological authoritarian state like Iran, public sentiment matters a lot.<br /><br />The current breakthrough would not have been possible without the election of the avowedly-reformist Rouhani, which in turn was only possible due to the mass protests after the ayatollahs stole the 2009 election. No such assertion of people power paved the way for Nixon's trip to China. Yes, this was a target only Obama was able to see, but that's partly a reflection of the blindness of his political rivals in Washington as well as of the keenness of his own insight.<br /><br />As the last quote suggests, this is a calculated risk. No one can be sure of the eventual outcome. But it has greatly reduced the risk of war and given eighty million people a better chance for a free future than they had before.Infidel753https://www.blogger.com/profile/10965786814334886696noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163441833245663827.post-90149567493966427762015-08-07T22:31:00.996-05:002015-08-07T22:31:00.996-05:00He saw an opening to get rid of the bulk of the ch...He saw an opening to get rid of the bulk of the chemical weapons in Syria, too. That's what the above quote about hitting the target no one can see is all about. Great post, Nancy.Tien Lenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163441833245663827.post-40627540104175218322015-08-07T16:40:46.967-05:002015-08-07T16:40:46.967-05:00Call me crazy, but Russia or China should be recei...Call me crazy, but Russia or China should be received as cautionary tales. 45 years after Mao, China is a toxic dystopia. It's literally Blade Runner without the androids. And post-Cold War Russia is a right-wing fascist state that has a very whimsical approach to the sovereignty of its former provinces. Post-Camp David Egypt has cycled through two military juntas, with decades of deprivation and repression in between.<br /><br />If Revolutionary Iran "reforms" thanks to Western rapprochement any way like any of those examples, pray for the Iranian people.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163441833245663827.post-25896028820995151062015-08-07T14:56:30.003-05:002015-08-07T14:56:30.003-05:00Perfect!!!!!Perfect!!!!!Nancy LeTourneauhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12614317154146836694noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163441833245663827.post-18917253126039629542015-08-07T14:41:31.427-05:002015-08-07T14:41:31.427-05:00"Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Ge..."Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see."<br /> <br /> -- Arthur Schopenhauer<br />Alan Mandelnoreply@blogger.com