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PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   1172 thread views

Transnational Thursday for January 23, 2025

Transnational Thursday is a thread for people to discuss international news, foreign policy or international relations history. Feel free as well to drop in with coverage of countries you’re interested in, talk about ongoing dynamics like the wars in Israel or Ukraine, or even just whatever you’re reading.

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Trump looked a lot less cringe to me. The Colombian president looks deranged, in denial about the massive differences in wealth between Colombia and the United States (it's a bit boring -- really? Is that the takeaway?), and obsessed with applying the racial dynamics of his country to a country it's clear he barely understands. He's trying to be serious, and lobbing all the rhetorical force he has at Trump.

Meanwhile Trump posts a silly picture of himself and restates his position. The point is that Trump thinks the Colombians' posture isn't even worth seriously responding to; he's posting a soyjack in response to a passionate claim of blood and soil. Per internet rules, the one who cares the least wins.

I agree that Trump behaved much better. But I want to go back to the days when diplomacy was conducted by professionals and genuine experts (not whatever neocon idiot can grease enough palms). Leaders should maintain dignity and decorum, internet rules shouldn't apply.

But I want to go back to the days when diplomacy was conducted by professionals and genuine experts (not whatever neocon idiot can grease enough palms).

Was there ever such a period, and did it ever produce better results than what we see now?

Kennan used to have some influence in US foreign policy and he got almost everything right, only he wasn't really listened to except for one time. It's like economics, there are some schools of thought that are just better than others. Austrians aren't perfect but they're better than Maoists. In foreign policy, realists are the most accurate analysts but are usually unpopular and uncharismatic compared to liberals and constructivists. They were the ones behind all these spreading-democracy and regime-change wars that realists usually opposed from day 1.

To add on to what Campfire said, we are arguably at this point because the dignity and decorum of old was practiced by professionals who were those exact same palm-greasing neocon fools you complain about. The modern mean-tweeting style simply exposes the rot that was always under the surface.

If people have become disaffected from dignity and decorum, there's probably a reason why. It might not be a great reason, but it's worth pondering.

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