I think one of the most valuable things that is happening with the NBA China kerfuffle is not only is it raising awareness but it is hitting people between the eyes that this isn't just a simple trade dispute. It is so easy and so many people just reflexively do the opposite 1/n
of Trump that there is little effort to distinguish, where might he be right, where might he be wrong, where does policy differ from rhetoric, where might the technical be right but rhetoric wrong. Whatever you want to call it, Cold War 2.0, the Great Ideological Conflict 2/n
or anything else you prefer, there is absolutely no way to deny any longer this is absolutely not a simple trade dispute. The reason this matters, as I have repeatedly written about on my blog, is that it frames the approach one takes to a specific type of conflict. 3/n
Americans and many others are waking up the brave new world and the vastness of the challenges that lay ahead. One can disagree with Trump but this challenge won't be solved with simple pat, cliched answers, that fall forth from fortune cookies. We can clearly debate 4/n
Trump on a variety of issues such as the WTO, German military, and China but a lot of the criticisms have real truth to them even if we do not agree with his approach, solution, or rhetoric. This is going to require much broader and deeper thinking than current approaches. 5/n
At least however, people are waking up to what is happening and the challenge before us. It's bipartisan. It requires new thinking to face new challenges. It is happening. Done.
