Its nice to have foreign policy back in the hands of the adults who put America First instead of ideology and crack-pot theory first.
A very interesting Article:
Russian Thaw Key to Countering China’s Rise
Refreshing relations with Moscow and partnering to defeat terror would undermine Beijing
by | 31 Jan 2017 at 6:32 AM
In the short term, joining forces with Russia against ISIS would not only bring in another ally against this existential threat, but it would represent the radical change in Middle East policy that Americans on both the Left and the Right have been calling for since 2008.
No longer would the United States seek to effect “regime change” and nation-building; instead, the focus would be placed on eliminating radical Islamic terrorism. And the long-term implications could prove far more important. Acting with Russia in Syria could help to curtail a creeping Russian alliance with the Chinese — an alliance born largely of our own actions and which, if fully formed, has the potential to replace U.S. global hegemony.
Since the fabled and failed “reset,” Russia has been increasingly forced into cultivating a relationship with China. Following the Crimean Crisis in 2014, U.S. and E.U. sanctions closed off Western markets, forcing Russia to look to China for economic reasons.
Additionally, Russia now finds itself with American troops on its border — and not under the auspices of mutual cooperation. This hostile posture has proven antithetical to both the long- and short-term interests of the United States. One such example is the desire of the United States to end its dependency on Middle Eastern oil. Russia possesses oil reserves in excess to even Saudi Arabia at some 256 billion barrels. As an oil-rich nation outside the tinderbox of the Middle East, Russia (at least on paper) would appear to be a natural solution to our stated objective. However, the actions of the Obama administration have placed China, not the U.S., into position to end their dependency on Middle Eastern oil. As a result of the Obama sanctions in 2014, the Chinese signed a deal that promises to replace Saudi Arabia with Russia as their primary supplier of oil. This unintended consequence was not only counterproductive both in result and to our national interest, but it also strengthened China at our expense.
Despite their growing relationship, Russia and China do not have a historical record of cooperation, and this history may offer Trump an opportunity. If anything their relationship has traditionally been adversarial — for centuries, Russia has been wary of Chinese power and expansion. As recently as 1969, this escalated into open warfare. According to Bob Savic of the Global Policy Institute, this unease remains. “Possibly the most serious undermining of the China-Russia relationship could come from its very success … there is likely to be mounting concern in Russia of a ‘Chinese takeover’ of the sparsely populated Russian Far East and other regions of Siberia.”…
