In his first speech to a joint session of US Congress, President Trump spoke of increasing the US military's budget and paying for the expansion by cutting other programmes, including foreign aid.
A concurrent move seems to be a downgrading of diplomacy. The selection of Rex Tillerson, a former Exxon executive, to secretary of state, has not been followed by the nomination of deputies and assistants. There seems to be very little guidance coming down from the White House, or Tillerson himself, for the diplomats in the State Department. Some diplomats have even told this Atlantic reporter that they watch White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer's press briefings for cues on policy.
This, of course, is all part of what Steve Bannon, Trump's strategic "brain", has called "deconstructing" the apparatuses of the government. Other instances have been noted in the downgrading - or outright attempts at destroying - other state bureaucracies, from the Department of Education to the Environmental Protection Agency.
One wonders, however, whether new conflicts in strategically significant parts of the world will not make the White House regret their decision not to fill the various positions in the State Department that could provide Tillerson with support and expertise.
A concurrent move seems to be a downgrading of diplomacy. The selection of Rex Tillerson, a former Exxon executive, to secretary of state, has not been followed by the nomination of deputies and assistants. There seems to be very little guidance coming down from the White House, or Tillerson himself, for the diplomats in the State Department. Some diplomats have even told this Atlantic reporter that they watch White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer's press briefings for cues on policy.
This, of course, is all part of what Steve Bannon, Trump's strategic "brain", has called "deconstructing" the apparatuses of the government. Other instances have been noted in the downgrading - or outright attempts at destroying - other state bureaucracies, from the Department of Education to the Environmental Protection Agency.
One wonders, however, whether new conflicts in strategically significant parts of the world will not make the White House regret their decision not to fill the various positions in the State Department that could provide Tillerson with support and expertise.
No comments:
Post a Comment