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Donald Trump And American Foreign Policy: Goodbye To Ukraine, NATO, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan!

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It has become very clear that IF Donald Trump is returned to the White House for a second term this November, that American foreign policy will be totally obliterated from what it has been since 1945!

Trump will not support Ukraine, and is willing to let Russia and Vladimir Putin take it over!

Trump will not continue to support NATO, as he is an isolationist of the worst kind, more interested in gaining the support of authoritarian leaders, including Putin, but also the dictators of China, North Korea, Hungary and elsewhere!

So America will have no allies in Europe, endangering American national security!

It is also unlikely that Taiwan and South Korea and Japan would have confidence in a President, who would be more interested in collaborating with the tyrants of Asia!

Joe Biden, The Diplomat In Action

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President Joe Biden demonstrated his diplomatic skills these past few days, having what is described as productive meetings with the leaders of China and Mexico at the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation Conference in California.

Twenty one nations are part of APEC, including, among others, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea, and Indonesia.

Biden has had long experiences in diplomacy as Vice President under Barack Obama, and earlier was engaged in foreign relations in his 36 years in the US Senate, including time as Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman.

Along with George H. W. Bush and Richard Nixon, Biden stands out on a short list of Presidents since World War II with foreign policy expertise before becoming President, and that is a major asset for American national security!

The US Military And Defense Department Have Daunting Challenges Ahead

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At a time when Climate Change presents overwhelming challenges to the entire planet, the threat of massive war also is a daunting challenge that is faced by the US military and the Defense Department.

The Russian war on Ukraine has led to Vladimir Putin formally annexing four areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation, the largest land grab since the end of World War II.

Putin is threatening nuclear war if any of the annexed territories are attacked, and the threat of World War III is real.

President Joe Biden and NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) have made clear that an attack on any land of any NATO nation, including those on the border of the Russian Federation, will lead to a unified response.

Additionally, the growing threat of a Chinese attack on Taiwan is alarming, as the US has said they would come to the defense of Taiwan, which could lead to war that could spread to Japan, South Korea, and Australia as well.

And of course, there is always the threat of North Korea and Kim Jong Un.

The US military has had troubles recruiting for volunteers among the younger generation, with many not in physical condition to be accepted, and yet, the thought of a reinstituted military draft after 50 years of no draft would certainly cause a bad political reaction.

Even Russia has learned that, with its decision to mandate forced service in its military in Ukraine, causing widespread fleeing and hiding by Russian men, causing disarray in Russia, and weakening Putin’s hold over his population, with growing opposition to the war effort.

May 8, 1945—VE Day And Harry Truman Birthday In White House

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Today is the 77th Anniversary of VE Day, Victory in Europe over Nazi Germany in World War II, and also the birthday of President Harry Truman, who has ascended to the Presidency less than a month earlier, on April 12, 1945, upon the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Truman would go on to serve seven years and nine months, and take us through the end of the war against Japan, and the early days of the Cold War against the Soviet Union, and the establishment of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), all relevent to today when the Russian Federation is at war against Ukraine, and has committed horrendous war crimes.

The US and its NATO partners are doing everything possible to combat the Russian military action in Ukraine, and World War III could be coming soon, if Russia invades any NATO nation!

Eighty Years Since “The Day Of Infamy”–Pearl Harbor Attack In 1941!

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Today, December 7, marks 80 years since “The Day of Infamy”, the attack by Imperial Japan on the US Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, which ushered America into World War II, and the beginning of world leadership for the United States!

There are only a small percentage of veterans who were in Hawaii at that time still alive, and overall, a small percentage of Americans in the military eighty years ago who are still alive, as one would have to be, at the minimum, 98 years of age or older today!

Pearl Harbor remains one of the three worst moments of threat to American national security, joined much later by the Al Qaeda attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, and then by the Donald Trump incited mob attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021!

In the long run, the January 6 attack will be seen as the greatest threat ever, as it was domestic terrorism, NOT foreign terrorism, and Japan and Al Qaeda did not, in the long run, remain a “clear and present danger” as domestic terrorism remains such for the future of American democracy!

And only January 6 represented a President conspiring against his own nation, unlike Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1941 and George W. Bush in 2001!

The United States Has Become A “Flawed Democracy”!

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Americans want to believe that their nation is a paragon of “democracy”, but by estimates of many experts who watch how governments change in their level of democracy, the United States has become a “flawed democracy”.

The Economist Intelligence Unit, the research division of the publication THE ECONOMIST, has rated the nations of the world as “Full Democracies”, “Flawed Democracies”, “Hybrid Regimes”, and “Authoritarian Regimes”.

The United States is in the “Flawed Democracies” category as Number 25, second on the “Flawed Democracies” list behind France, which also has fallen out of the “Full Democracies” listing!

23 Nations are “Full Democracies”, led by Norway, Iceland, Sweden, New Zealand and Canada. Finland, Denmark, Ireland, Australia and The Netherlands are the next five, with the latter two actually tied for 9th!

Other major nations in the “Full Democracies” list include, among others, Taiwan, Germany, the United Kingdom, Chile, Costa Rica, Japan, Spain, and South Korea.

Inspiring is the fact that Taiwan, Chile, and South Korea have become democracies in recent decades, but sadly so many more nations have moved away from democracy, and the fact that the US and France are put at the top of “Flawed Democracies” is troubling! And Israel and Italy are 5 and 6 as “Flawed Democracies”. And Mexico is way down, near the bottom of 52 nations that are “Flawed Democracies”.

“Hybrid Regimes” are the next 35 nations, and “Authoritarian Regimes” were 57 in number, with the total of nations on the list being 167.

Asians Most Rapidly Increasing Ethnic Group In America, Transforming American Society!

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The final US Census Bureau figures show the fastest growing ethnic group in America are people of Asian ancestry, transforming American society.

That population grew by more than one third since 2010, the final figure being 35.5 percent!

This includes mainland Asia, the Pacific Islands, and Hawaii.

20 million people identify as Asians, and another 4 million identify as Asian mixed with another racial group. And a half percent identify as Pacific Islander or Hawaiian, or in combination with another racial group.

So 7.2 percent of the total American population now is in this category.

The most prominent Asian groups in numbers are as follows: India, China, the Philippines, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Native Hawaiian, Guam, and Samoa.

Mid April: The Loss Of America’s Two Greatest Presidents

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Mid April is every year a reminder of the loss of America’s two greatest Presidents, Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt.

It has been 156 years since Lincoln was assassinated at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, DC, shot on the evening of April 14, 1865, and dying the next morning, April 15, 1865. No assassination in American history was more profound in its effect on the nation then and all of the years since. It affected the Reconstruction of the Southern States, and race relations for the long haul.

And then, 80 years later, Franklin D. Roosevelt died of natural causes on April 12, 1945, 76 years ago, with World War II nearing its end in Europe, but the danger of extended war in Asia, but prevented by Harry Truman’s decision to utilize the Atomic Bomb on Japan four months after FDR’s death.

The effects of FDR, his New Deal programs, and his foreign policy still affect all Americans today in 2021.

This is a time annually to commemorate the leadership and deeds of Lincoln and FDR in American history, and their impact on the present!

Foreign Policy Rears Its Ugly Head For Joe Biden

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Every President enters office wishing to deal with domestic policy and change.

But invariably, foreign policy rears its ugly head much too often!

Woodrow Wilson came to office in 1913, not expecting the First World War I to break out in 1914, and bring us into that war in 1917.

Franklin D. Roosevelt came to office in 1933, wishing to deal with the Great Depression, but also had to deal with the growing Fascist threat of Japan, Nazi Germany, and Fascist Italy, and eventually, entrance into World War II!

Harry Truman came to office in 1945 to end World War II, but had to deal with the Cold War with the Soviet Union, and send troops to Korea.

John F. Kennedy came to office in 1961, and had to deal with the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.

Lyndon B. Johnson came to office in 1963, wanting to promote the Great Society, but also had to deal with the Vietnam War.

Every other President in modern times has had to face similar issues, and now, Joe Biden must deal with China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran as major headaches, as he tries to resolve the COVID 19 Pandemic Crisis!

Priority For Joe Biden And Secretary of State Antony Blinken To Support Allies And Be Tough On Adversaries

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With the confirmation of Antony Blinken as Secretary of State for President Joe Biden, the priority is for both Biden and Blinken to make perfectly clear that foreign policy will return to normalcy.

This means that America must restore the close relations with our NATO allies, and with Asian allies, including Japan and South Korea, all heavily damaged under Donald Trump.

It also means being tough toward our adversaries, including the Russian Federation and Vladimir Putin; China; North Korea; and Iran, making clear we are not cozying up to these dictators, while dealing with them in a “tough love” atmosphere.

It also means we cannot allow Saudi Arabia to manipulate America, as it did under Donald Trump.

It also means working in unison with other nations on climate change, and promoting a series of fair trade agreements, instead of imposing higher tariffs on Americans, as Trump practiced.

Confrontations might occur, hopefully not, but we must make clear that America will uphold democracy as part of its historic mission, and will never abandon its democratic allies in the world!