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Hard Power and Soft Power

wink said:
Only if the amount of income the reduced tax is applied to stays static. That is highly unlikely. Whether it goes up and how much is a guess at this point. But it will change. You cant say for certain the deficit will go up without knowing how much income, corporate and personal, will be taxed.
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It's a hypothetical. I can say whatever I want.
 
Yardstick said:
Nope, India can finance all that bs themself. Giving money to a poor country in Africa? Sure, sign me up. Giving it to a country that works against us for their own interests? Nope they can finance that themselves
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Bro if you’re mad about people getting breaks or help when they could finance it all on their own, then I got some news for you that isn’t even off this continent.

Spekkio said:
Except time and again, this proves to be worthless. As soon as we want to wean a country off of US funding, they turn on us.

The business model where someone gives a customer a good deal so that they become loyal and tell all their friends about it is a uniquely American concept.
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Like all the countries we help rebuild in Europe? They might turn on us, but it isn’t because of funding right meow.

There is a foreign policy concept where you help build infrastructure and industry in poor or vulnerable countries, and then you hit them over the back of the head and extort them. I think it’s called BRICS and is a big communism thing…but I’ve been seeing a similar technique in other places lately.

I understand your concern Spekkio, but I think you’re underestimating the power of supporting small nations and potential democracies. That said, there is a time to step away when it is clear we won’t be successful in the long run a la Middle East.

Yardstick said:
It’s nice to have a leader who actually stands up for America. Beautiful thing seeing Zelenskyy kicked out of the White House for disrespecting the very country that is responsible for Ukraine’s resistance. Hopefully he’ll get the hint and apologize or he better pray that Europe gets their act together. America’s back finally
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Honestly dude, I was like 69% sure you were a Russian troll, but I’m about 96% sure your are in fact something else after this. Imagine telling a dude who’s been fighting an invading army he needs to show respect to a guy who has a track record of…*not supporting him.* I’d also like to point out, Ukraine downright stopped the Russians in their tracks despite being outgunned and out numbered with *minimal* aid at the outbreak of the war limited to defensive and light weaponry, most of which was from the UK and other European nations. The man was offered an extraction at the verge of peril and a government in exile but stayed and rallied and united his ENTIRE NATION to stop the Russian advance. I believe the quote was, “I don’t need an extraction, I need bullets” which is up there with JPJ quotes.

Further more, the entire continent, with the exception of Belarus, rallied behind him to a. Provide support b. Increase their own military capabilities. Europe has often been the champion of supporting Ukraine more than us, and has demonstrated their understanding of how Russia is a threat to their security.

Serious question, have you ever trained to fight with a NATO ally? Have you done it since this war kicked off?

wink said:
A a matter of return on investment the money spent on the program in question could have been spent on other programs far and away more likely to develop favorable opinion of the US in India. This wasn't bags of rice arriving in a refugee camp with the caption " gift of the American people" printed on it. It is almost certain this funding was transparent to the Indian public. Also, consider Indian culture and society. Pretty sure funding trans programs is not on even radar of most Indians. Soft power is vitally important and That is why every dollar spent should deliver maximum return. Setting aside the actual subject of the program, funding it was a very poor investment. I think that is probably true of other USAID grants come to light. Ignore the outrage. Just consider how that money will influence the public or decision makers to benefit the USA.
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Would you have supported giving the same amount of money for food aid or something directly labeled HIV/AIDS treatment/prevention?

It’s a fair point Wink. USAID is by no means a well run organization from what I have seen over the past 15ish years. It needs to be run better and find effective ways to promote that the US is the good guy in the world. My favorite classic example is the amount of grain we shipped to the Port of Djibouti in the 2008-2010 time frame to alleviate famine in Somalia. We literally unloaded shiploads of it only for it to rot in Djibouti because we didn’t have a way to get it into Somalia. Obviously poor execution.

That said, I don’t have a problem with helping a vulnerable group of people in the world when others won’t step up to help them on their own.
 
Faded Float Coat said:
I'm interested in reading from someone who enjoyed the disgraceful clown show in the oval today: how does that (or broadly waves hand in general direction of the world) make America greater? Please avoid under-grad IR tropes, wikipedia, or Breitbart. Bonus points if you can explain it in a way that someone who voted for McCain and Romney could understand....
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So this is the miracle of video editing.

Watch the whole 60 minute press conference and see if you come away with the same impression. There was 45-50 minutes of normalcy until JD Vance picked a fight.
 
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Spekkio said:
That's a really odd fetish you got there, but whatever floats your boat.
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An American walks into a bar in somewhere in Ireland and sits next to a really old guy drinking a beer. And the old guy’s like, “Did you see that wall on your way into town?” And the guy’s like, “Yeah.” And the old man’s like, “I built that wall with my own two hands. But do they call me O’Grady the Mason? Noooo.”

Then he’s like, “Did you see those cabinets on your way into the bar?” And the guy’s like, “Yeah.” And the old man’s like, “I build those cabinets with me own two hands. But do they call me O’Grady the Carpenter? Noooo.”

Then he says, “Did you see the iron gates on the way into town?” And the guy’s like, “Yeah.” And the old man’s like, “I built those gates with me own two hands. But do they call me O’Grady the Smith? Noooo.

But you fuck one goat…”
 
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taxi1 said:
An American walks into a bar in somewhere in Ireland and sits next to a really old guy drinking a beer. And the old guy’s like, “Did you see that wall on your way into town?” And the guy’s like, “Yeah.” And the old man’s like, “I built that wall with my own two hands. But do they call me O’Grady the Mason? Noooo.”

Then he’s like, “Did you see those cabinets on your way into the bar?” And the guy’s like, “Yeah.” And the old man’s like, “I build those cabinets with me own two hands. But do they call me O’Grady the Carpenter? Noooo.”

Then he says, “Did you see the iron gates on the way into town?” And the guy’s like, “Yeah.” And the old man’s like, “I built those gates with me own two hands. But do they call me O’Grady the Smith? Noooo.

But you fuck one goat…”
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A classic joke...I heard it told as a young man from the vantage of 'Spiros the Greek bridge-builder'
 
Spekkio said:
The only lucid part of that engagement was the last couple of minutes where Trump gives insight into how he actually views the conflict. The rest was... not a good look, to say the least.

He is potentially trying to pull a reverse Nixon and use Russia to counter-balance China instead of pushing these two countries into an alliance.
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In an effort to keep things aligned with ground reality, this is not the first time a U.S. POTUS has yelled at Zelensky, just the first time one has made an unfortunate (and unprofessional) public spectacle. Zelensky clearly misread the room and Trump responded in a remarkably immature way, but Zelensky has a bad habit of making demands from allies and then scolding them when they don’t follow.

I am all for Europe stepping into the current confusion and taking the lead on the Ukrainian issue. We already know what they’ll push for…an end to the fighting, a return to 2022 borders, and a European PKF…all things Zelensky opposes.
 
Griz882 said:
In an effort to keep things aligned with ground reality, this is not the first time a U.S. POTUS has yelled at Zelensky, just the first time one has made an unfortunate (and unprofessional) public spectacle. Zelensky clearly misread the room and Trump responded in a remarkably immature way, but Zelensky has a bad habit of making demands from allies and then scolding them when they don’t follow.

I am all for Europe stepping into the current confusion and taking the lead on the Ukrainian issue. We already know what they’ll push for…an end to the fighting, a return to 2022 borders, and a European PKF…all things Zelensky opposes.
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He also said "fuck you" in Ukrainian to the VP.
 
Griz882 said:
In an effort to keep things aligned with ground reality, this is not the first time a U.S. POTUS has yelled at Zelensky, just the first time one has made an unfortunate (and unprofessional) public spectacle. Zelensky clearly misread the room and Trump responded in a remarkably immature way, but Zelensky has a bad habit of making demands from allies and then scolding them when they don’t follow.

I am all for Europe stepping into the current confusion and taking the lead on the Ukrainian issue. We already know what they’ll push for…an end to the fighting, a return to 2022 borders, and a European PKF…all things Zelensky opposes.
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If I am Putin, I am not seeing the benefit to a cease fire any more. I’m seeing Ukraine having lost its key supporter, and thinking I am going to keep the pressure maximal until there is a break in the stalemate and a collapse somewhere to exploit. Right or wrong. Anything less than Ukraine collapsing is a failure on his part, after all.
 
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