America’s Broken Foreign Policy

“So the America I loved still exists, if not in the White House or the Supreme Court or the Senate or the House of Representatives or the media. The America I love still exists at the front desks of our public libraries.” – Kurt Vonnegut

“America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.” – Alexis de Tocqueville

The ZTE Affair is the Modern Day XYZ Affair: Started in 1985 as a joint venture between a state-owned aerospace factory and two other companies, Zhongxing Telecommunications Equipment (ZTE), by the 1990s, was the role model for a new kind of Chinese company, one that was “state owned, privately-run.” It has not had an unblemished record over time, dealing with accusations of bribery, overbilling, and rule-breaking. ZTE is one of the largest manufacturers of smartphones and telecommunications devices in China and a primary supplier of mobile devices to US wireless carriers such as AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile. However, for years US officials worried that ZTE equipment could be used by the Chinese government for espionage or network disruption. But it was violations of trade controls on Iran and North Korea that really got ZTE in trouble with the Trump administration. In an unprecedented move in April, the Commerce Department announced that ZTE would be banned from purchasing components from US manufacturers; a plan was also in place to prohibit it from selling products in this country.

The sanctions were extremely effective. But in a stunning reversal that shocked Congress members and intelligence officials, Trump tweeted on May 13 that he was working with his commerce department to save ZTE jobs in China. One day later, it was revealed that the Chinese government was extending a $500 million loan to a state-owned construction company to build an Indonesian theme park featuring a Trump-branded golf course and hotels. Finally, in the first week of June, the sanctions were lifted in exchange for ZTE paying a $1 billion fine, and $400 million to be held in escrow.

America Fights With its Allies & Befriends its Enemies: President Trump did not want to attend the 44th annual G7 summit this past weekend, hosted by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at a luxury hotel in the small Canadian tourist town of La Malbaie, Quebec. A week earlier Trump had imposed stiff trade tariffs on America’s closest allied nations, and no doubt expected to be criticized by their leaders for doing so. Apparently he was finally convinced that it would be unseemly for the head of the greatest western democracy to snub the world’s most powerful countries as their leaders gathered to network in a show of global cooperation. So the president criticized the meeting, arrived late, left early, reneged on an agreement, and attacked the host.

Trump was scheduled to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron mid-morning Friday. But he left the White House so late the meeting with Macron had to be rescheduled. Then before touching down in Quebec, Trump complained that Russia hadn’t been allowed to participate in the summit. (Russia was exiled five years ago for invading Crimea and carrying out other destabilizing events in the US and Europe.) Friday afternoon Trump indicated he might still go in on the joint statement, which is always issued by the countries at the close of each summit. After negotiators worked overnight to reach agreement on the statement, Trump arrived late for Saturday’s breakfast meeting, then left shortly afterward for Singapore, saying he had to prepare for his June 12 summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Once in the air, the president heard that Trudeau held a press conference at which he said Canada would move forward with retaliatory trade measures on July 1 in response to the US levies. So from the safety of Air Force One, Trump immediately tweeted that Trudeau was “Very dishonest and weak,” and the US would no longer sign the joint communique.

– Millionaire businessman Arron Banks, who bankrolled Nigel Farage’s Brexit campaign and who has repeatedly denied any involvement with Russian officials or that Russian money played any part in the campaign to get the UK to leave the EU, had multiple meetings with Russian embassy officials in the two year run-up to the Brexit referendum. A senior Tory MP said documents seen by The Guardian appear to raise urgent and troubling questions about Banks’ relationship with the Russian government. President Vladimir Putin has long considered the eastward expansion of EU influence as a threat. (The Guardian)

– The brutalized body of a 14-year-old girl found buried near her home in southwestern Germany is providing explosive ammunition for opponents of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s migration policies. The chief suspect is a 20-year-old Iraqi asylum seeker who arrived in Germany in October 2015, shortly after Merkel opened the borders to hundreds of thousands of migrants. The man was rejected in late 2016, but allowed to stay in the country while his appeal was pending. Merkel’s government faces a deepening scandal over allegations that civil servants may have been bribed to grant asylum to as many as 1,000 migrants, some of whom may have been criminals or even terrorism suspects. Approximately 10,000 asylum seekers still enter Germany every month. A full-blown parliamentary investigation has been called for. (NYT)

– Denmark’s public opinion on immigration is swerving right. The rise of the far-right anti-migrant Danish People’s party has turned previously radical positions into mainstream attitudes. Rhetoric calling Islam a barrier to integration resulted in the Danish parliament recently passing a law that effectively bans the burqa. Even the leader of the center-left Social Democrats has said some Muslims “do not respect the Danish judicial system,” Muslim girls are subject to “massive social control,” and all Muslim schools in the country should be closed. (The Guardian)

– Four opposition parties have banded together in a rare alliance to challenge Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the last leg of the election, to be held June 24. In the first round of voting last month, Erdogan earned 45.9% of the vote, not enough to be reelected outright. He remains the most popular politician in Turkey, but the combined opposition alliance came uncomfortably close with 44.5% of the vote. Erdogan moved the election timetable up a year and a half hoping to catch the opposition off guard, but that plan could still backfire. (NYT)

– The Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee announced Friday it has produced the world’s fastest supercomputer, named Summit. The machine cost $200 million to build and can do mathematical calculations at the rate of 200 quadrillion per second, or 200 petaflops. China still has most of the world’s supercomputers. China, Japan, and Europe are all developing machines that are even faster than Summit, so America’s lead might not last for long. (NYT)

America’s Gutless Foreign Policy Arrives at a Critical Crossroads: President Trump arrived in Singapore Sunday for his historic meeting with Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un. If it occurs, it will be the first ever meeting between an American president and a North Korean leader. For decades Pyongyang has been trying to meet with US leaders as a way to secure international legitimacy. Past administrations have not agreed to meet due to the inability to get meaningful concessions from the North Koreans beforehand. As a professor at South Korea’s Pusan National University said, “A summit is a reward to North Korea. It extends the prestige of meeting the head of state of the world’s strongest power and leading democracy. That is why we should not do it unless we get a meaningful concession from North Korea. That is why other presidents have not done it.” Another expert agreed, stating: “A Trump meeting with Kim presents both risks and opportunities. The US side needs to be very, very well prepared and know exactly what it wants to achieve, as well as what the U.S. is willing to provide in return.”

But a senior administration official said Trump was elected to take a different approach from previous presidents, including avoiding low-level negotiations that have failed in the past. Trump wants to talk to Kim directly because he is the “one person who can actually make decisions,” the official said. The president doesn’t think he has to prepare very much because he can always trust his gut instinct. He is convinced he can slice through decades of diplomatic orthodoxy and strike a grand bargain with North Korea. “It’s about attitude. It’s about willingness to get things done,” Trump said last Thursday.

• Why a DNA data breach is much worse than a credit card leak (The Verge)
• ‘A great item to have’: flamethrowers sell like hot cakes at Elon Musk sale. The tech billionaire urges buyers to act responsibly as dozens queue up to get their hands on the $500 weapons (The Guardian)
• Dennis Rodman traveling to Singapore for North Korea summit (CNN)
• Cost of government rises when local newspaper closes, study finds. A study inspired by a John Oliver segment has analysed data from 1,266 US counties and tallied the cost of losing a print watchdog (The Guardian)
• Former Fox News Analyst Calls Network a ‘Destructive Propaganda Machine’(NYT)
• A Marshall Plan for China? It Existed, but Even Marshall Couldn’t Pull It Off(NYT)
• How WeWork became the most hyped startup in the world. With a $20 billion valuation and 250,000 members in 72 cities worldwide, WeWork is on a mission to take over the workplace. This is the story behind the hype. (Wired)

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