I haven't posted on Tom in a while, aye?

Tom says

And those that say we shouldn't get into bed financially with China until they end things like their political re-education camp system have it backwards: they'll end that system as a result of that connectivity. This is a war we win without ever firing a shot-and that's very good.

To get better connected to the global economy in a broadband sense is to see the rise of legal rule sets that attract those necessary levels of trade and investment, but such a development would likewise empower the population to increasingly take the government to task for past sins in a sort of slow-motion truth commission. So to develop Russia is to exorcise the Soviet Union.

But there is an underlying reality here: Bush [and, I guess, the US and its citizens, generally] is far more admired in the New Core than people in America realize, and far more disliked in the Old Core than we realize. That isn't just a Bush thing, it's a 21st century reality that's only going to grow with the global economy.

Good post on China and N Korea

Both China and the U.S. know what the other side wants and needs over the long haul. The mystery to me is why the deal-making is non-existent in this strategic environment. Why this administration continues to wait on this relationship to develop on its own by and large is beyond me.

I'll tell you why: This administration is trading on the future for leverage in the present. The specter of a military and economic near-peer can be used for leverage. Plus, this admin. is so idealogical when it comes to 'freedom', they have trouble 'trafficking' with China, even though you would think the trade and debt service realities would be enough to shake them back to what is actual.

It's so good, guess I'll just quote this whole post:

Afghanistan's parliament is smart enough to realize that the real definition of a "failed state" is one that cannot attract America's attention, much less it's military help, to prevent its collapse into civil strife.

You know what the biggest cause of civil war is in the world? It's civil war. That's right. Most civil wars start within a few short years of the last one, meaning the biggest cause of civil wars are the affected countries' inability to move beyond that reality without lapsing back into it.

What's the cure? Foreign troops that keep the peace and prevent that relapse.