International At least 7 explosions and low-flying aircraft are heard in Venezuela’s Caracas - Maduro captured

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It's funny because I listen to podcasts by people working foreign policy/foreign affairs, international law, that crowd.

And every episode, bar none, is endless bemoaning of the ineffectiveness of the current global security structure, or the ability to enforce international law in non-abiding countries. The lack of political willingness to coalesce on international law. As though "well only if ever the EU could get together and do X." Yes, I know, boring stuff, yet I am a regular podcast listener.

Trump is an idiot, and a horrible leader, not least because he is horrible at running the country that he's actually elected to run. However, I think it hurts the credibility of those attacking Trump when the fail to recognize actions of his that are both task effective and generally popular.

A lot of the things that have happened, and not merely by Trump but in other corners of the globe, have brought substantially more geopolitical clarity than ambiguity. When it comes to Venezuela, this answers a lot of questions. People will say, well there are still so many questions, how to get from Point A of Jan 5 to Point B of democracy, what of governance, and dealing with the regime, and regional instability. And all those are legitimate questions, but it was even more unclear how to answer all of those questions with Maduro still being in power.

There is much more clarity today than there was a week ago. And certainly much more than has been brought about by publishing any book or paper on international relations. As a scholarly community, we tend to look down on "macho man foreign policy." But I don't know when we're going to look in the mirror and realize that the study of foreign policy has almost become a meme of itself. Where people give commentary on their own tendencies to do do nothing but wag the finger.

If the international rules-based order is failing, it's because it was ineffective. Whether or not the international rules-based order is failing is a book topic that will pay many mortgages. But if it fails, it will not be because the order was so wonderful, no matter how nostalgic we may feel about it.
 
lol at the EU enforcing international law after neglecting their militaries and buying their oil from Russia. At least they finally cut down on the Russian oil

They dug their own grave
 
It's funny because I listen to podcasts by people working foreign policy/foreign affairs, international law, that crowd.

And every episode, bar none, is endless bemoaning of the ineffectiveness of the current global security structure, or the ability to enforce international law in non-abiding countries. The lack of political willingness to coalesce on international law. As though "well only if ever the EU could get together and do X." Yes, I know, boring stuff, yet I am a regular podcast listener.

Trump is an idiot, and a horrible leader, not least because he is horrible at running the country that he's actually elected to run. However, I think it hurts the credibility of those attacking Trump when the fail to recognize actions of his that are both task effective and generally popular.

A lot of the things that have happened, and not merely by Trump but in other corners of the globe, have brought substantially more geopolitical clarity than ambiguity. When it comes to Venezuela, this answers a lot of questions. People will say, well there are still so many questions, how to get from Point A of Jan 5 to Point B of democracy, what of governance, and dealing with the regime, and regional instability. And all those are legitimate questions, but it was even more unclear how to answer all of those questions with Maduro still being in power.

There is much more clarity today than there was a week ago. And certainly much more than has been brought about by publishing any book or paper on international relations. As a scholarly community, we tend to look down on "macho man foreign policy." But I don't know when we're going to look in the mirror and realize that the study of foreign policy has almost become a meme of itself. Where people give commentary on their own tendencies to do do nothing but wag the finger.

If the international rules-based order is failing, it's because it was ineffective. Whether or not the international rules-based order is failing is a book topic that will pay many mortgages. But if it fails, it will not be because the order was so wonderful, no matter how nostalgic we may feel about it.
The international rules-based order was only effective so long as NATO, and specifically the United-States continued to adhere to its values and principles, and they continued to harness its soft power throughout the world. It was already corroding a little bit, but Trump just took a stick of dynamite to it.
 
Time for Canada to develop a nuclear arsenal and Jack the price of potash
I said this months and months ago when Trump first threatened Canada. People thought I was crazy for bringing it up, but IMO this is the direction things are going.

If Trump invades Cuba, Columbia, Mexico, and then Greenland, it's basically a sure bet that Canada will be next. I'm still not convinced he will invade Greenland, but we should be prepared.
 
The international rules-based order was only effective so long as NATO, and specifically the United-States continued to adhere to its values and principles, and they continued to harness its soft power throughout the world. It was already corroding a little bit, but Trump just took a stick of dynamite to it.
No. The international rules based order, while always having problems, has been corroding substantially due to the fact that when the US does nothing, no other countries do anything either.

Your premise is just wrong. What you're saying, if I could word it back to you in simple english, is that so long as the US follows international rules, then everyone else will also follow international rules, because the US is some sort of a "role model". There's a separate discussion about whether the US has ever followed international rules, but certainly the fact that the US does or doesn't follow international rules is not what causes other countries to follow or not follow international rules.

International rules have failed to be a substantial deterrent to bad actors all across the globe, you can pick your pet theater. Because there is no penalty for not following them, and countries have long realized this. This is true when the US breaks them, it is true when Russia or Iran breaks them, it's true when Mali breaks them. No one can stop you, so why stop? It's not because the US was the model child and now the model child is being naughty so all the kids are going to be naughty.
 
International rules have failed to be a substantial deterrent to bad actors all across the globe, you can pick your pet theater. Because there is no penalty for not following them, and countries have long realized this.
I have no idea why some people struggle to grasp this very basic concept.
 
I said this months and months ago when Trump first threatened Canada. People thought I was crazy for bringing it up, but IMO this is the direction things are going.

If Trump invades Cuba, Columbia, Mexico, and then Greenland, it's basically a sure bet that Canada will be next. I'm still not convinced he will invade Greenland, but we should be prepared.
It's crazy that we're even talking about this being a possibility.
 
I have no idea why some people struggle to grasp this very basic concept.
How about the sanctions on Russia and the international aid Ukraine is receiving? It sure seems like Russia is suffering consequences 4 years after its SMO. It's funny to complain that there aren't any penalties for actions like that while also complaining about giving aid to Ukraine to defend their sovereignty.
 
How about the sanctions on Russia and the international aid Ukraine is receiving? It sure seems like Russia is suffering consequences 4 years after its SMO. It's funny to complain that there aren't any penalties for actions like that while also complaining about giving aid to Ukraine to defend their sovereignty.
Further, regardless of what any other country can or can't do to the USA, we absolutely do not have to accept it from our leadership.
 
It's crazy that we're even talking about this being a possibility.
Look at it to ramp up quickly,

The Administration knows it only has a little less then a year to get Cuba and Colombia.

The only thing that could really put a pause to anymore movement is the midterms. But the way this looks to be playing out, trump is planning to be at war with Cuba And Colombia to put a hold on any elections..

The Rubicon has been crossed with trump’s administration…again
 
How about the sanctions on Russia and the international aid Ukraine is receiving? It sure seems like Russia is suffering consequences 4 years after its SMO. It's funny to complain that there aren't any penalties for actions like that while also complaining about giving aid to Ukraine to defend their sovereignty.
Sure but no one can get to Putin or any higher ups who make the calls and started the whole mess,its them you really want to be hurt
 
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LOL Sucks to be you..
She tried to soften up Trump.


Peace Prize recipient Maria Corina Machado cannot share her Nobel Prize with or give it to the President of the United States, Donald Trump.

This is the message from the Nobel Institute's head of communications, Erik Aasheim, in a text message to Dagens Næringsliv, according to the NTB news agency.

- A Nobel Prize can neither be revoked nor transferred to others. Since the announcement of the prize winner(s) has been made, the decision stands forever, writes Aasheim.

In an interview with Fox News, the Venezuelan opposition politician spoke about the possibility of sharing the award with Donald Trump.
 
Look at it to ramp up quickly,

The Administration knows it only has a little less then a year to get Cuba and Colombia.

The only thing that could really put a pause to anymore movement is the midterms. But the way this looks to be playing out, trump is planning to be at war with Cuba And Colombia to put a hold on any elections..

The Rubicon has been crossed with trump’s administration…again
He might try that to deflect attention from other matters but I don't see how he'd be able to postpone the midterms unless we were at war here on our own soil. He also hasn't actually started a war yet despite these questionably legal actions he's taken.

I guess we'll wait to see how far he takes it but there would probably be mass protests before it reached that level. There's no doubt in my mind that he'd weaken the country, the way Chavez, Kim, and even Putin have, if it means he gets to stay in power. Instigating a war here on our soil seems a bridge too far but I really wouldn't put anything past him and his group.
 
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