Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Engagement is good.
The Obama admin is quietly pulling away from the old practice of sanctions and isolation against gov'ts we don't like.
We know from long experience that sanctions are perfectly counterproductive. We've been running sanctions against Cuba for 50 years, and we've helped to keep Castro in power. We've been running sanctions against Persia for 30 years, and we've helped to keep the mullahs in power.
On Cuba, the political power of the ex-Cubans in Florida makes any change impossible. Florida is the only state that votes in presidential elections, so no president can afford to lose any votes there.
On Persia, the admin has made some noises toward engagement but hasn't made any real moves. Unfortunate.
Now they're taking some real steps with MeenMarTheCountryFormerlyKnownAsBurma. Hillary is actually meeting with the leadership of MeenMarTheCountryFormerlyKnownAsBurma, at least establishing a talking relationship.
MeenMarTheCountryFormerlyKnownAsBurma is similar to Cuba and Persia in a historical sense. All three are in strategic locations, all have been rich and sophisticated within living memory, all are currently impoverished and stupefied by crude regimes. As long as the crude regimes stay in power, these three countries are negative influences. If they could be restored to their previously demonstrated maturity, they could be productive influences. (Just as an economy with mostly mid-sized businesses works better than our current overwhelming Goldman monopoly, a world with mostly mid-sized powers works better than a world with one or two overwhelming superpowers.) ¶ 6:03 AM
We know from long experience that sanctions are perfectly counterproductive. We've been running sanctions against Cuba for 50 years, and we've helped to keep Castro in power. We've been running sanctions against Persia for 30 years, and we've helped to keep the mullahs in power.
On Cuba, the political power of the ex-Cubans in Florida makes any change impossible. Florida is the only state that votes in presidential elections, so no president can afford to lose any votes there.
On Persia, the admin has made some noises toward engagement but hasn't made any real moves. Unfortunate.
Now they're taking some real steps with MeenMarTheCountryFormerlyKnownAsBurma. Hillary is actually meeting with the leadership of MeenMarTheCountryFormerlyKnownAsBurma, at least establishing a talking relationship.
MeenMarTheCountryFormerlyKnownAsBurma is similar to Cuba and Persia in a historical sense. All three are in strategic locations, all have been rich and sophisticated within living memory, all are currently impoverished and stupefied by crude regimes. As long as the crude regimes stay in power, these three countries are negative influences. If they could be restored to their previously demonstrated maturity, they could be productive influences. (Just as an economy with mostly mid-sized businesses works better than our current overwhelming Goldman monopoly, a world with mostly mid-sized powers works better than a world with one or two overwhelming superpowers.) ¶ 6:03 AM
