The opium trade of the 18th and 19th centuries was Britain’s solution to its chronic trade deficit with China. The reason for the deficit was an extraordinarily high demand for Chinese commodities in Europe and little or no demand for European goods in China. The problem was compounded because the only commodity that China accepted in payment … Continue reading
Category Archives: Policies
Reflections
“Misunderstanding of the present grows fatally from ignorance of the past” -Marc Leopold Bloch 1962 – Cold War I The end of Cold War I, widely viewed in the west as proof of the innate superiority of capitalism over communism, led some to believe that the disappearance of ideological … Continue reading
Major Problems
Though by no means all-inclusive, the following are among today’s most intractable problems:
Afghanistan
August 21, 2021 Pundits have been comparing the “fall” of Kabul to Saigon. The pandemonium is certainly similar. But today the Vietnamese work very hard for their living, just as they did during the war. About three-quarters of them live in country areas and villages growing rice and fruit trees … Continue reading
Security and Logic
July 4, 2021 BackgroundA long-awaited, unclassified Preliminary Assessment of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena issued by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence is an unexpected silver lining to the Covid-19 pandemic: The $2.3 trillion relief bill signed by then-President Donald Trump actually required the Pentagon to continue investigating UAPs and … Continue reading
A Questionable Strategy
June 12, 2021 Historical Background When they “opened” China in 1972 President Richard Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger did not anticipate the consequences that would follow. Nixon’s primary motive was to take advantage of the then adversarial Sino-Soviet relationship to open another front in the Cold War with … Continue reading
Update – May 2021
May 23, 2021 A Strategic Commodity Winston Churchill’s decision to replace coal by oil for the primary source of power of the Royal Navy forced Britain, which at the time had no known domestic oil fields, to seek, acquire and maintain control of oil deposits in distant lands. On May … Continue reading
Climate Change and Nuclear War Revisited
April 29, 2021 Background On April 19, 2021, at a press conference about climate change, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres said that “we are on the verge of the abyss.” The evidence supporting his conclusion is overwhelming. Increasingly severe storms, droughts, wild fires, rising seas, and mass … Continue reading
Winning Over Republican Voters
November 9, 2020 The frenzy of election day may be behind us, but the turmoil and uncertainty continue: the calm before the storm, if you will. The reason for that grim assessment is because the Democrats did not win the hearts of roughly half the population. In simple terms, unless they … Continue reading
The U.S. and China at Crossroads
When it comes to Sino-American relations, few westerners have the knowledge, understanding and experience of former Secretary of State Dr. Henry Kissinger. Speaking at the National Committee on U.S. China Relations Gala Dinner on November 14, 2019, he explained: • The (U.S.) relationship with China started because both felt threatened … Continue reading