Matias Vernengo — Talk of military intervention in Venezuela is absurd

Gunboat diplomacy.

Naked Keynesianism
Talk of military intervention in Venezuela is absurdMatias Vernengo | Associate Professor of Economics, Bucknell University

Losing Latin America

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has warned Latin American countries against excessive reliance on economic ties with China, saying Beijing is establishing “a foothold in Latin America.”

In a wide-ranging speech at the University of Texas on Thursday ahead of his five-nation Latin America tour, Tillerson said the region should stay away from Chinese investment, European colonialism and Russian arms sales.

"China is getting a foothold in Latin America. It is using economic statecraft to pull the continent into its orbit," Tillerson told a crowd at his alma mater.

"Latin America does not need new imperial powers that seek only to benefit their own people," he added.

He added that the regional states should protect themselves against "predatory actors."…

PressTV (Iran)
China is getting a foothold in Latin America: Tillerson

Also

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson warned Latin American countries on Thursday against excessive reliance on economic ties with China, saying the region did not need new imperial powers.

Tillerson, in a speech ahead of a visit to Mexico, Argentina, Peru, Colombia and Jamaica, also said Russia’s growing presence in the region was “alarming as well.”...

Reuters

Latin America should not rely on China: U.S. Secretary of State Tillerson

Also

Says US Doesn't Specifically Advocate Regime Change

AntiWar
Tillerson Talks Possible Venezuela Military Coup, Asks Maduro to Resign
Jason Ditz

Also

BBC
Tillerson says Venezuelan military may turn on Maduro

See also

Xinhua

May's visit enhances China-Britain 'Golden Era'

Moon of Alabama — Help Wanted - State Department Seeks Self-Consistent Secretary

Trump in often inconsistent in what he says. That is his privilege. But it does not mean that the Secretary of State has to contradict himself each and every day. It is Tillerson's task to project a steady foreign policy. If there is none - for whatever reason - he must keep his comments vague. Contradictions like the above make him a joke.

'Rexxon' has experience in doing international businesses. He knows that consistency is one of the most important factors in getting things done. No one will make deals with a party that changes its mind every other day.

So why is Tillerson jumping around like this?

Moon of Alabama
Help Wanted - State Department Seeks Self-Consistent Secretary
b

Brad Blankenship — How private corporations will benefit from Kurdish independence

You probably want to take the time to read this.

Rex Tillerson and Exxon up to the neck in it.

Al-Masdar News
How private corporations will benefit from Kurdish independence
Brad Blankenship

Wilkerson — Trump is Clueless on North Korea

LW: You've got people like John Bolton and others, and I know Bolton particularly well, which is why I bring his name up, that want regime change and don't care how many people die to bring it about. They're absolutely committed to that sort of objective, whether it be Iran or North Korea or whomever. They want regime change, and if it takes war to do it, so be it. And if it takes hundreds of thousands of causalities, so be it. I can't explain to you why they feel that way except that I think sometimes they're insane, but they do feel that way. There's more of them than you might think.…

TRNN
Wilkerson: Trump is Clueless on North KoreaAaron Mate interviews Larry Wilkerson, Lt. Col. (ret.) US Army, former Chief of Staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell, now a distinguished professor at the College of William and Mary

Inessa Sinchougova — Tillerson has developed a program to improve relations with Russia

The strategy is aimed at establishing a constructive working relationship with the president of Russia on a range of issues.

The first is to give Russia an understanding that aggression against the United States is doomed to failure and it is counterproductive for both states. It is noted that the United States will take action, should Russia take any steps against US interests, such as sending weapons to the Taliban in Afghanistan or prosecution of US diplomats in Moscow. (Apparently these standards do not apply to themselves?)

Ha ha. What a joke. "We can do what we want regardless of your red lines, and if you oppose us we will attack you, and then neither us will benefit because there will be a nuclear holocaust that will wipe out the Northern Hemisphere if not also the Southern. 

Has this guy studied game theory; is he just Mafia, or is he an adolescent that never grew up?

Ultimatums won't deter Russia from asserting its interests. It will just sour relations further. Same with China.

The world is getting very close to the point of no return as the US digs in to preserving its global hegemony in seeking to make Russia and China its vassals. Conflict among nuclear superpowers is looking more and more likely on this course, as the US has driven Russia and China to its red lines.

This is sheer madness that has nothing to do with genuine US interests, as in the interest of the American people, and everything to do with extending American empire in the interest of the American elite.

Fort Russ
Tillerson has developed a program to improve relations with Russia
KtoVKurse — Inessa Sinchougova

Lavrov responds deftly, in effect saying that the US is country that has demonstrated it cannot keep its agreements, so its words are worthless.

Sputnik International
Tillerson Plan Would Sound Good If Trump Wasn't 'Bound Hand & Foot by Congress'

Reuters — Trump's 'been clear to me' to try to rebuild Russia ties: Tillerson

U.S. President Donald Trump told his top diplomat that the dispute over probes into links between his inner circle and Russia should not undermine U.S. efforts to rebuild relations with Moscow, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Tuesday.

Reuters
Trump's 'been clear to me' to try to rebuild Russia ties: Tillerson
Ana Nicolaci da Costa and Charlotte Greenfield

Reuters — Tillerson heads to Moscow carrying Western call for Russia to abandon Assad

Wha does Russia get in return for abandoning an ally and losing its foothold in the Levant?

Nothing. I thought so. Such a deal.

Why is Tillerson bothering going to Russia?

Oh right, so the US can say that Putin sabotaged the "deal."

This is pure propaganda persuasion.

Reuters
Tillerson heads to Moscow carrying Western call for Russia to abandon Assad

Steve Scherer and Andrew Osborn

Alex Pfeiffer — Tillerson Says U.S. Will Defend Innocents Around The World

The Trump administration goes full-on liberal interventionist and assume the role of US as world's policeman as integral to American leadership.

Oh wait,

Spicer said a press briefing Monday, “The Trump doctrine is something that he articulated throughout the campaign, which is that America’s first. We are going to make sure that our national interests our protected, that we do what we can to make sure our interests both economically and national security are at the forefront.”

“We aren’t going to just become the world’s policemen running around the world,” Spicer added. “We have to have a clear and defined interest wherever we act, and it’s our national security first and foremost that has to deal with how we act.”

Can someone help me out. Who is in charge here, anyone?

The Daily Caller
Tillerson Says U.S. Will Defend Innocents Around The World
Alex Pfeiffer

Xinhua — FM: China, U.S. can avoid Thucydides Trap, Kindleberger Trap

China and the United States can sidestep the Thucydides Trap and the Kindleberger Trap and jointly chart bilateral ties from a long-term perspective, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Monday in Beijing.…

The Thucydides Trap refers to a warning by the ancient Greek historian that cataclysmic war can erupt if a rising power causes fear in an established power.

The two countries will not fall to the Kindleberger Trap either, Wang said, as a single country cannot provide all public goods for the world with such complexity, and international cooperation is the only possible choice.

Charles Kindleberger, an intellectual architect of the Marshall Plan who later taught at MIT, believes that the disastrous decade of the 1930s was caused by the U.S. replacing Britain as the largest global power but failing to take on Britain's role in providing public goods.

Applauding U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's remarks during his recent visit to China, Wang said that China stands ready to advance bilateral ties from a strategic perspective.
Tillerson said that the United States and China should jointly chart bilateral ties for the next 50 years and plan all-round cooperation.…

China stands ready to shoulder its due international responsibilities, but never wants to lead the world, Wang said.

Ecns
FM: China, U.S. can avoid Thucydides Trap, Kindleberger Trap
Xinhua | Editor: Gu Liping

Also

China's door opens wider to outside world: premier
Xinhua | Editor: Gu Liping

Sputnik — Korean War 2.0? Why US 'Prompt Global Strike' Won't Work Against Pyongyang

Doesn't mention that China would take a very dim view of this, to say the least. A unified Korea would put the US military on the China border. When the US military approached the Chinese border during the Korean War, China entered the conflict.

Sputnik International

Korean War 2.0? Why US 'Prompt Global Strike' Won't Work Against Pyongyang

Rudy Panko — The Great Draining Begins: Trump Purges State Department's 7th Floor 'Shadow Government'

Tillerson just fired most of the State Department's 7th floor, which is known in Washington as the "Shadow Government"

Russia Insider
The Great Draining Begins: Trump Purges State Department's 7th Floor 'Shadow Government'
Rudy Panko

RT — US delegation ushers out media as Tillerson starts talking to Lavrov at G20

Tillerson takes charge at State. Curtains come down.

RT
US delegation ushers out media as Tillerson starts talking to Lavrov at G20

Also

TASS
Anti-Russian campaign in US media may send wrong signal to Putin - Trump

Edward Harrison — The potential for military confrontation due to Trump’s foreign policy

Edward Harrison examines Rex Tillerson's testimony to the Senate. He is guardedly optimistic about US-Russian relations and somewhat pessimistic about US-China relations.

One problem I see developing with Trump's style as a negotiator is that it is an advantage to insert uncertainty in private dealmaking purposefully. However, uncertainty in domestic and global politics is destabilizing and that extends to economic matters, too. Trump apparently believes he can strike a balance in this regard, but things can get out of hand in unexpected was and have unforeseen consequences. 

Credit Writedowns
The potential for military confrontation due to Trump’s foreign policy
Edward Harrison

Reuters — Trump secretary of state nominee: China should be denied access to South China Sea islands

Collison course. Bets on who shoots first?

But Tillerson also stressed the "deeply intertwined" nature of the world's two biggest economies.

"We should not let disagreements over other issues exclude areas for productive partnership," he said.

Uh huh. This should be fun to watch.

Reuters
Trump secretary of state nominee: China should be denied access to South China Sea islands

David Brunnstrom and Matt Spetalnick

See also

On being proactive.

And because of its wealth and geographic security, [the US] can afford to commit serious foreign-policy blunders and still recover.

Until the nukes arrive.

The National Interest
Resisting America's Unstoppable Urge to 'Do Something' Can the next secretary of state resist the urge?
Aaron David Miller, vice president and distinguished scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and Richard Sokolsky, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a former member of the secretary of state’s policy planning staff

Russ Baker — Trump and the Bushes — the New Guy and the Old Guard Dance

And now, notwithstanding the tremendous enmity between the Old Money clan and the semi-new money guy, the Bushes and their allies and fellow travelers are finding ways back inside the White House.

One example is Rex Tillerson, Trump’s choice for Secretary of State. The only reason he was even considered was because Robert Gates and Condoleezza Rice suggested him to Trump.

Gates, of course, comes out of the Bush machine, having served as CIA director under George H.W. Bush and as defense secretary under George W. Bush. Ditto Rice, who also served under Bush father and son....

In fact, it now turns out that none less than George W. Bush himself, along with — wait for it — Donald Rumsfeld, worked their influence on behalf of Tillerson, albeit indirectly.…

Trump had been considering, as Deputy Secretary of State, Richard Haass, president of the old guard’s Council on Foreign Relations, and former member of both Bush administrations. But apparently [Roger] Stone has convinced Trump to not appoint him.

Stone considers Haass “New World Order…Globalist…Neocon” — anathema to Stone, with his paleoconservative/libertarian inclinations. Much of Trump’s rhetoric against elites has come from Stone....

WhoWhatWhy
Trump and the Bushes — the New Guy and the Old Guard Dance
Russ Baker

CBS News — CBS News James Baker says Rex Tillerson will be "excellent secretary of state"James Baker says Rex Tillerson will be "excellent secretary of state"

Lowering the boom.

CBS News
James Baker says Rex Tillerson will be "excellent secretary of state"

Sputnik — Tillerson to Inherit ‘Politicized’ State Department, Middle East Crises

Tillerson need to drain the State Department swamp.

Exxon Mobil Chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson is a highly experienced manager who will inherit a politicized US Department of State and a number of crises in the Middle East, former US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Chas Freeman told Sputnik.

Earlier on Tuesday, Trump officially announced he would nominate Tillerson to be the United States’ next secretary of state. 

"Tillerson will inherit a diplomatic service and State Department that have been seriously de-professionalized, politicized, and demoralized," Freeman said on Tuesday. 

The Exxon Mobil chief, Freeman added, will enter office amidst new uncertainties over relations with Iran, the Israel-Palestine issue and a significant enhancement of the Russian role in the Middle East. 

Tillerson would also inherit an escalated military confrontation with China over the Taiwan issue, a rising threat from a nuclear-armed North Korea, and the steady distancing of US allies from America, Freeman pointed out....

His deputy, John Bolton, won't be any help in that and will instead become part of the problem.

Sputnik International

Tillerson to Inherit ‘Politicized’ State Department, Middle East Crises

Sputnik — Choice of Tillerson for US Secretary of State Important for Whole World - OPEC

Earlier on Tuesday, Trump’s transition team confirmed his intention to nominate Tillerson, who heads the ExxonMobil oil company, for the post of US secretary of state. 

"There’s no doubt that the choice of Rex Tillerson is a very important one," 
[OPEC Secretary-General Mohammad Sanusi] Barkindo said at a forum in Washington, DC. "It’s not only important for the United States, but I think is important for the global community because of what he’s bringing on board as an accomplished oil technocrat who rose to became a very successful CEO for what is probably the world’s largest listed oil and gas company…" Barkindo noted that there is a very thin line between oil, geopolitics and diplomacy, and added he looks forward to continuing to interact with Tillerson in his new role.

"It's about the oil, stupid." Now that it's on the table, we can leave aside all the BS and get down to business.

Sputnik International
Choice of Tillerson for US Secretary of State Important for Whole World - OPEC

McConnell Gives Strong Support for Tillerson as Next Secretary of State

Patrick J. Buchanan — Will Trump Defy John McCain and Marco Rubio?

In the campaign, Trump said he wanted to get along with Russia, to support all the forces inside Syria and Iraq fighting to wipe out ISIS and al-Qaeda, and to stay out of any new Middle East wars—like the disaster in Iraq—that have cost us “six trillion dollars.”

This is what America voted for when it voted for Trump—to put America First and “make America great again.” But War Party agitators are already beating the drums for confrontation with Iran.

Early in his presidency, if not before, Trump is going to have to impose his foreign policy upon his own party and, indeed, upon his own government. Or his presidency will be broken, as was Lyndon Johnson’s.

A good place to begin is by accepting the McCain-Marco challenge and nominating Rex Tillerson for secretary of state. Let’s get it on.

The American Conservative
Will Trump Defy John McCain and Marco Rubio?
Patrick J. Buchanan