Chinese Hegemony

China is flexing its expansionist muscles ... making outrageous claims to large swaths of the South China Sea ... and building artificial islands to reinforce its sea lanes, oil exploration and fishing assertions in this region. All of its Asian neighbors (the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia) are pushing back and the Philippines just won a important victory in the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague wherein China's claims have been denied ... see: AP Story. Unfortunately this decision in the Netherlands carries no force of real law ... just moral suasion ... and China is not swayed by suasion. This blatant Chinese hegemony presents one of the most serious threats to world peace in quite a few years.

In a related matter, President Obummer, after he returns from his current Black Lives Matter trip, is planning a few rounds of golf and a White House rap concert.

Afterward: See: Chuck Hagel Weighs In On CNBC and Enews: China Rattles Sword.

Riots

In Kiev, Ukraine

The streets of the world are alive with protesters … Ukraine, Venezuela, Thailand, Turkey, Brazil, and even Syria … if you consider a revolution to be a form of protesting. To see comments on the whys and wherefores of the first three insurrections see: CNN Update. And one can easily add to these current uprisings … past riots in Egypt, Iran, Libya, etc. … all within the past five years.

In Caracas, Venezuela

What do many of these mass altercations have in common?  Mostly they are protesting the autocratic and corrupt nature of their current governments; involve large numbers of young people; are spread through the widespread use of cell phones and social media; and have mostly been conveniently ignored by the Obama administration (except for the initial riots in Egypt when we came out in support of the Muslim Brotherhood.)

This U.S. foreign policy posture toward these uprisings … mostly one of respecting the existing government … is possibly the most egregious failing of our State Department over the last century. Had we, during Obama’s reign, assumed a foreign policy position that it was in our national interest to see the movement of other nations’ governments away from tyranny, radicalism and theocracy … toward moderation, modernity, and secularism … we could have easily taken sides in these conflagrations and used our moral suasion to influence outcomes. 

And, I’m reasonably sure that the world would be a lot better off today.

Afterward: For more on the mess in Venezuela see: The Diplomad's learned comments