Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Editor, Times-Union:
Though it is highly unlikely fervent Trump supporters will even consider news or analysis outside the strict confines of Fox News, Newsmax, and entertainers-presumed-to-be-journalists like Joe Rogan, it would behoove them (especially), and all of us to see what people outside our fringe bubbles are saying.
One particularly insightful analysis of Trump’s leadership style comes from an article by Timothy Snyder in Social Europe (“The Weak Strongman: How Trump’s Presidency Emboldens America’s Enemies”). Though this is offered through an EU organization that tilts leftward, Snyder’s analysis of Trump’s foreign efforts is logically defended. His conclusions about the Trump strategy of conducting bombastic (but feckless) foreign policy via social media are spot on.
“One could be generous and interpret a Trump post threatening sanctions as an act of policy" Snyder writes. "But words matter only when there is actually a policy, or at least the possibility that one might be formulated. But for there to be a policy, there must be institutions staffed with competent people. And Trump’s first policy was to fire those who would be competent to design and implement a policy. Many of the people who knew anything about Ukraine and Russia, for example, are simply gone from the ranks of his administration.”
In short, Trump likes to make threats (especially on social media), but our enemies know we lack the expertise to follow through. Ruther, with the gutting of institutions dedicated to dealing with this and other issues – foreign and domestic – we also lack the capacity, even if Trump actually had the will (or attention span) to follow through on anything of substance. In this specific instance, however, we end up with an impotent foreign policy that emboldens our rivals abroad, making us less capable on the national stage. We're weaker (if not substantially, and uselessly, louder).
We all know the Tweeter-in-Chief likes to talk a good game (he likes to talk, in general). But talk is cheap. In this case, it's also dangerous, since, as Snyder sums up, “Trump is a sheep in wolf’s clothing, and the wolves can tell the difference.”
Charles Eichman
Warsaw, via email
