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Bruce Lawrence's avatar

I agree with Bret on this point: "I don't see a Biden administration that has any kind of plan for victory in Ukraine either, other than to prevent defeat. And I would love to hear from Kamala Harris, as we used to hear from candidates in the past."

Unfortunately, Kamala is constrained by her position as VP under Biden, so she is not able to stake out her own position. (I fear this is a more general problem that is constraining her with regard to policy statements.) But I see no reason to believe she would be much different from the Obama-Trump-Biden consensus that favors timid, non-assertive US foreign policy. For example, they all had/have a tendency to draw red lines and then not enforce them.

Even though the USSR has been defunct for more than three decades, one element of its propaganda is still influential in the US: the lie that dictators are provoked by a rival's strength, so that the best way to handle them is through weakness and appeasement. This way of thinking has always dominated the Democratic left wing, and it is now influential with the Trump cult, as well. Until the US recovers from this Soviet propaganda hangover, the Axis of Autocracy will continue its string of successes.

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LeftCoastReader's avatar

I think this overlooks the possibility of learning from past mistakes. Harris seems to have some ability to do so. We'll have to wait and see if she can apply this learning as president. Of course she has to win the office first. That should be the focus now.

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