The Strait Dope
It turns out that disparaging, threatening, humiliating, and nauseating allies might not have been the best strategy. So far, many of America’s strongest allies have refused Trump’s call to help open the Strait of Hormuz. So he’s disparaging them more. But it doesn’t matter, because we don’t need them anyway. Nah, nah. Trump Disparages Allies for Rebuffing His Requests for Military Assistance. “‘We don’t need anybody; we’re the strongest nation in the world,’ Mr. Trump said. He suggested his request for assistance in reopening the Strait of Hormuz instead amounted to a loyalty test of America’s allies. ‘I’m almost doing it in some cases not because we need them but because I want to find out how they react.'”
+ WSJ (Gift Article): Trump Wants to Secure Hormuz. Here’s What It Would Take.
+ Things are not going well for Iran. The regime is damaged. Their ability to defend themselves and threaten others has been greatly diminished. Where things go from here could depend on allies and political strategy, which makes the above story all the more worrisome.
+ “As the price of oil soars to $100 a barrel and countries scramble to limit the fallout of the sudden loss of Middle East fuel, China has two significant advantages over its geopolitical rivals. Many of its new cars run on electricity. And that electricity is mostly powered by sources at home.” NYT (Gift Article): China’s Edge in an Oil Shock: Electric Cars and Renewables.
+ Meanwhile, the administration seems more obsessed with how the war is being covered than how it’s been planned. First, there are the attempts to sell the war using video games and sports memes, which I covered on Friday in Wii the People. Then there are threats to shut down journalism that doesn’t function as state media. F.C.C. Chair Threatens to Revoke Broadcasters’ Licenses Over War Coverage. “Democratic lawmakers and free-speech watchdogs were quick to condemn Mr. Carr’s threat as a violation of the First Amendment.” (There was a time every American would condemn these threats.)
