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Claire Berlinski
@ClaireBerlinski
, 7 tweets, 2 min read Read on Twitter
I am a little bit surprised by this description: "Mr. O’Brien is no ideological firebrand in the mold of Mr. Bolton." nytimes.com/2019/09/18/us/…
I haven't yet read the whole book, but Amazon offers the introduction for free: amazon.com/While-America-… He describes himself, explicitly, as an ideological firebrand in the mold of Mr. Bolton.
Every word that that's available for free (I may yet buy the book) says, "I am an ideological firebrand in the mold of Mr. Bolton."

This isn't necessarily a bad thing. I reckon we need an ideological firebrand in the mold of Mr. Bolton in that role--
It has deterrence value. But the deterrence value would be greatly enhanced if we clearly explain to the world that the NSA is still an ideological firebrand, so you still have to worry that we might react to provocation very, very violently.
Bolton, in the same article, is said to have "pushed Mr. Trump to take military action against Iran and wore contempt for the federal bureaucracy on his sleeve." This is, supposedly, in contrast to Mr. O'Brien.
"Unlike his firebrand predecessor," the Guardian says, theguardian.com/us-news/2019/s…. Described everywhere as "affable," "low key," and "sunny."
I don't quite know what to make of the disparity between his opinions and the widespread view that he's sunny.
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More from @ClaireBerlinski see all

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Claire Berlinski
@ClaireBerlinski
The problem is less that he's not reading his briefing papers and more that so many Americans don't read newspapers at all, so this will sound plausible to many of them, even though it's absurd on the face of it.
Well, actually: It's a big problem that he doesn't read his briefing papers. But we live in a representative democracy; in principle, Americans should be able to delegate "reading the briefing papers" to their elected representatives.
But by this point, they should be fully aware that he either doesn't read them, or behaves as if he doesn't, so they need to pay more attention to these things than ordinarily they would.
Read 3 tweets
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Claire Berlinski
@ClaireBerlinski
Meanwhile: I'm not a Kremlinologist, don't read Russian and don't want to pretend to have special insight, but none is needed to understand two things. 1) Putin tends to go on reckless foreign adventures when his domestic popularity sags. 2) His domestic popularity is sagging.
The way it looks to the Kremlin when this kind of thing happens--because it's true--is that the US is not firmly committed to upholding its defense commitments. This is a recipe for disaster.
And all the more so because it's manifestly clear Americans are in a profoundly isolationist mood. Iran just knocked out 5% of the world's energy supplies, and we said, "Well, screw it." There was firm bipartisan support for saying, "Screw it." This sort of thing gets noticed.
Read 6 tweets
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Claire Berlinski
@ClaireBerlinski
So if Americans are asking, "Why are we providing Ukraine assistance in the first place," this is one reason among many. We promised to.

There are many other reasons, including the principle that Russia shouldn't invade formerly captive nations and kill their citizens.
And that it has developed a habit of doing this.
So for Ukraine, this is literally a matter of life and death, literally a matter of whether they will continue to exist as an independent nation. The last thing they want is to be another issue in the interminable US culture wars. From their perspective: a surreal nightmare.
Read 3 tweets

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Curt Mills
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Hugh Hewitt wrote the introduction to National Security Advisor Robert C. O’Brien’s 2016 book, “While America Slept,” a collection of essays that argues that American involvement overseas needs a restoration. 1/
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The Amazon the largest lung in our world is on fire😭.
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Many of you are wondering what Hong Kong is all about. Read this book. Milton Friedman loves this man and it’s no surprise he’s mentioned in intro. Architect of Prosperity: Sir John Cowperthwaite and the Making of ... amazon.co.uk/dp/1907994696/… #Amazon
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jessamyn west
@jessamyn
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Paras Chopra
@paraschopra
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Warning: this thread is going to be huge.
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