28 Comments
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Jim Carmine's avatar

Thank you for pointing out the insane rubbish of Mearsheimer.

Carl's avatar

Interestingly, Mearsheimer never bothers to explain why Russia shouldn’t have to cede its sovereignty to China the way he wants Ukraine to cede its sovereignty to Russia.

SM's avatar

Or why the Palestinians need to do so to Israel. It’s all so transparently bogus.

Frau Katze's avatar

Mearsheimer is pretty anti-Israel.

Tomas Pajaros's avatar

The main theme of The Art of the Deal is aggressive, large-scale deal-making centered on "thinking big," leveraging publicity, relentless negotiation (aim high, push hard), and projecting immense confidence to control outcomes, even if it means being unpredictable or controversial.

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perhaps ESPECIALLY if it means being unpredictable or controversial.

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blowing up the status quo, to restack the playing field, seems to be Trump's primary MO in his 2nd term.

Bob Tinsman's avatar

Did you actually read it? Thanks for the info because I wouldn't read it if it were the only book on a desert island!

But seriously, it does give us a clue to how the MF thinks. My hypothesis is that he destroys things to create chaos that he can exploit. He takes advantage of people that want to play by the rules. He's just part of the "greed is good" cult that really got going with Reagan, and this is the endgame.

Wow, that came out pretty dark 😮 But I think it's important to understand the motivation, so we don't give in because we think he'll act reasonably or keep his promises.

Neal Traven's avatar

Dark doesn't mean inaccurate.

Blue Moon Pie's avatar

Why self-sabotage in front of the world? Because Trump is Putin's puppet, basically a Russian asset.

Frau Katze's avatar

He likes dictators.

Catherine Logsdon's avatar

Excellent analysis. Should be required reading for all high school civics classes.

Tai's avatar

Trump wants to push the world back to a time when giant empires will be ruled by autocratic families, including his and bully smaller neighbors into vassal states. Weakening NATO and the EU is one way to do it.

Jennifer Anderson's avatar

And of course our media is letting this go completely unnoticed. Thank you for keeping us aware of the authoritarian moves.

Danny Daly's avatar

How Mearsheimer is taken seriously as an academic on geo-politics is beyond me! Thanks for highlighting again, he who is the "Emperor and his New Clothes".

Neal Traven's avatar

If "big" is the criterion, why isn't Canada in his group? Brazil and Australia are bigger than India, and Japan is way down the list (Wikipedia says #62).

Or, if he's talking population, where are Indonesia, Pakistan, Nigeria, Brazil, and Bangladesh? They're all bigger than Russia. And Mexico is bigger than Japan

Frau Katze's avatar

Another commenter suggested it was because Japan holds over a trillion dollars in US bonds (I verified the figure.)

It’s not just size.

Neal Traven's avatar

Doesn't Europe also hold a great big piece of US debt?

Frau Katze's avatar

I found this: “Including private investors and governments, the top three estimated foreign holders of federal debt by country, as of December 2024, are Japan ($1.1 trillion), China ($0.8 trillion), and the United Kingdom ($0.7 trillion). Based on these estimates, Japan holds approximately 12.4% of all foreign investment in U.S. publicly held federal debt, China holds approximately 8.9%, and the United Kingdom holds approximately 8.4%.

https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/RS22331

dick scott's avatar

Why are western democracies not engaged? Apathy, no sense.

Curtis Oberle's avatar

Thank you for publishing this.

Andy Kotlarz's avatar

Why Trump would include Japan in the Core 5?

Japan owning over 1 trillion USD in government bonds might have something to do with it . . .

Protect the Vote's avatar

Republican Nazis

Obviously Cheeto is a figurehead, albeit not a very good one, for a larger Nazi Republican movement which seeks to destroy the republic WE the People should not forget that every Nazi that stands behind this regime/movement is at fault This includes not only the sycophants that are making things happen in the Black House but also all the loyalists

It embodies the entire Nazi Republican Congress and the SCOTUS The group is comprised of all the right wing media such as Fox or NewsNation It includes right wing organizations It includes all the wealthy greedy scumbags supporting an opportunity to make more $$ rather than hold the Nazis in power to account

After Cheeto and his Nazi regime has been deposed, like Judas, all will plead with the electorate that they weren’t responsible It was the other guy’s fault That they didn’t want what happened to have happened

These people should not be left off the hook All of the groups above tried to destroy the government and WE the People’s democracy And that includes the Democrats who do not want to screw the Nazi Republicans….WE the People should not and will not forget what a travesty WE experienced There needs to be accountability and doesn’t necessarily mean in a judicial sense It means to not vote or listen to these scumbags, including the wealthy disenfranchised for at least 10 years That’s what happened to Nazi Germany

Aaron Grossman MD, MPH's avatar

It would probably help the eu consolidate even further....eventually

Mayme's avatar

Simply the orange one is an ass crack.

Mayme's avatar

There is $$ to be made.