In a post from July, Trump proclaimed: “I am pleased to announce that, after the involvement of President Donald J. Trump, both Countries have reached a CEASEFIRE and PEACE. Congratulations to all! By ending this War, we have saved thousands of lives.”
However, the reality was starkly different. Two weeks after Trump’s initial celebration, artillery exchanges resulted in a significant death toll, with widespread injuries and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of civilians.
" China has assisted Cambodia and Thailand in our own way to resolve the border dispute, and we continue to promote peace talks to address other pressing issues in the region."
Trump, seemingly oblivious to the nuanced diplomatic correction, responded by calling Xi his “longtime friend” and a “great leader”, expressing enthusiasm about potential trade deals.
He says that today. A week from now he’ll be doing the Kubrick Stare into the camera and claiming Chinese interference in the affairs of South Pacific States will never be tolerated. Then someone in Shanghai will buy another $3M Trumpcoins and he’ll be friends again.
This has some additional layers. It’s not just Trump. Since the Soviet Union fell, the US has been expected to be the world police force, including being a mediator in disputes like this.
It makes somewhat more sense for China to be there, since it’s in their backyard, but nobody is asking for the US to be there. With Trump in charge, they’d rather prefer not.
Which is a big shift. Even with Bush Jr and all his bullshit, other countries did generally expect the US to be involved diplomatically in things like this. That’s now going away.
I’d say it’s a good thing, but not if China is going to be the world police force instead. It should be a multipolar world.
The US hasn’t been “expected” to be the world police.
It has done it purely for its own ends, just as Russia and China do.
Yup, it has. Civil war somewhere in Africa? Comments will be full of people from the EU asking why the US is doing nothing. This has been normal for decades.
I feel like “expect” is being conflated with “want” because you can expect things you don’t want.
If anything understanding the motivations of a thing is the first step to expecting actions from it.