Carol J. Williams is a retired foreign correspondent with 30 years' reporting abroad for the Los Angeles Times and Associated Press. She has reported from more than 80 countries, with a focus on USSR/Russia and Eastern Europe.
Six weeks into life outside of the European Union, Britons are hard-pressed to identify any winners in their go-it-alone strategy after 47 years as an EU member state.
I believe the Democratic Party needs a serious contender on the right. We are in for scary times if the cult of Trump pretends to be that counterbalance.
“As history shows, most dictatorships fall not under the power of their opponents but under the weight of their own mistakes. It seems that Putin's will not be an exception.” -- Vladimir Kara-Murza in the Washington Post opinion section
"The closure of all U.S. consulates in Russia would appear a U.S. retreat and capitulation to the diplomatic visa pressures applied by elements of the Russian government.” -- Derek Norberg, president of the Seattle-based Council for U.S.-Russia Relations
Trump’s deployment of riled-up supporters to attack the heart of elected government reminded me of late Venezuela President Hugo Chavez, whose virulent campaign of “Chavismo” lured the poor and disenfranchised to attack an oil-rich market economy from within, leading to the authoritarian-ruled basket case that exists today.
“The sudden sense of being cut adrift from the bloc – and from the world at large – felt like a bitter taste of what might be to come.” -- A New York Times dispatch from London
Much of the envisioned UK-EU trade treaty is already in a draft of 600-plus pages, with three areas of disagreement holding up its conclusion. Those few stumbling blocks, however, are deeply embedded in Britain’s disaffection with an alliance it considers a constraint on British sovereignty.
The U.S. image as a reliable ally and partner in global matters from health to arms control to human rights and democracy has suffered serious blows over the past four years of Trump’s transactional attitude toward security, trade and globalism.
Trump's pressing of his distorted view of dystopian America likely did little to capture those few undecided voters exhausted by four years of conflict and chaos.