Stirring The World Pot

It seems Mr. Trump is intent on stirring things up on the world diplomatic front. Two of his first foreign affairs actions were to call Pakistan and Taiwan. 

The call to Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif sounds like a high school chat. According to the Pakistan account, the conversation was full of praise for the "fantastic", "terrific", smart people and leader of the country. If you follow world news, you know that Pakistan is not a "fantastic" country. If not actually a terrorist state it is very close. It's sympathy and support of the Taliban is well known. They are a very unstable and untrustworthy ally. Remember also that Osama Bin Laden lived in a compound just blocks from the Pakistani military college for six years. Hiding right under their noses but they couldn't find him. Right. We don't know what will come of this phone call but it did piss off India, one of our strongest allies and trading partners. India and Pakistan are bitter enemies and they both have nuclear arsenals. In the past, Trump himself has argued that Pakistan “is probably the most dangerous” country in the world and that India needs to serve as “the check” to it. Of course, we all know by now that Trump doesn't really mean most of what pours out of his mouth.

Then to make sure the Pacific rim didn't feel left out, Trump had a phone call with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen. There are no real details about the conversation other than to say there were congratulations to each other and economic, political and security ties were discussed. The US has not officially recognized Taiwan since 1979. It's a very touchy subject with the Chinese and the one China policy. China's Foreign Ministry has already lodged a complaint with the United States.

Trump chose to have conversations with two world leaders who are part of delicate and potentially dangerous situations both in their dealings with us and their neighbors. Maybe he should call Canada or Ireland or Sweden or any number of other countries that are less toxic.

A very disturbing point is that Mr. Trump has chosen not to get any briefings from the State Department. I assume because he already knows more than State. He doesn't need the security briefings either. 

When Trump becomes president he can change foreign policy and our relationships with other countries. He can even ignore the State Department. What he should do as President-ELECT is to try and follow the current US policies and protocols. Technically, Trump is still a private citizen but the rest of the world may not make that distinction. He'll have a four year run of his own beginning January 20th. Buckle your seatbelts.

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