I was looking for something to comment on but all I'm finding "above the fold" (youngsters won't remember what that meant) is more-smoke-than-fire stuff about Russia.
Russia? In my life, they have gone from Looming Existential Threat to Struggling Democracy to WTF? and back to being force-grown as a World Threat. It's certainly no nation to want for a neighbor these days, especially for countries that were once a part of the Soviet hegemony.
But it's pretty much a thugocracy, and one with simple motives and predictable territorial ambitions. A kind of a spoiler, lurking around the edges and grabbing what it can.
Meanwhile, when was the last time you heard anything about the South China Sea?
South China Sea? Maybe because it is being claimed by our buddies and trading partners, the mainland Chinese who we're depending on to keep the little troll in North Korea in line?
ReplyDeleteThe USN just ran another destroyer through PRC claimed international waters in that area the other day in a Freedom of Navigation demonstration, with protests following.
ReplyDelete(I do miss the old "Imperialist Running Dog" style of the old days. The world is little less colorful and entertaining now the ChiComs have adopted more "diplomatic" language.)
Of course you have to go to sources not based in NYFC or DC to find this stuff sometimes. I like NHK World News and BBC's Newsday report based in Singapore and London.