From Dr. Kissinger: “Well, you have in China at least two groups – one that you call the triumphalists, and the others that don’t have a clear label, whether I would say talk about partnership with the United States. nytimes.com/2018/11/17/opi…
At this moment, the partnership group seems to be the more preeminent one, but the other one is certainly vocal enough. So the big challenge that China has, and that to some extent we have, is this.
When you have two major powers that impinge on each other all over the world, as we do, the outcome is very often conflict. But we know that a conflict between two countries of this magnitude is going to have catastrophic consequences.
So can the leaders of both sides find a mechanism and a way of working together, and to avoid the catastrophe that happened in Europe, where nations went to war, and I’m talking about World War I, went to war.
And if they had known what the world would look like five years later, they would never have done it. Can we avoid that? Can we avoid that outcome?” hughhewitt.com/henry-kissinge…
Superb column from @NickKristof, which itself is part of the solution: clarity as to the danger and catastrophic consequences of miscalculation. One thing that lingers from reading Kissinger’s “On China” and interviewing him about it: China has a history of sudden, unpredictable
and furious assaults on perceived enemies or targets of opportunity, including Tibet, India, and Vietnam.
We have a history of ignoring/downplaying/underestimating gathering threats, and of furious, devastating reprisals against those enemies that take advantage of our collective insouciance regarding threats.
