People have asked since I am generally aligned with Trump on Europe and alliances are there areas where I differ from Trump's approach? Yes. Start by ignoring Europe. They don't really matter and they are not going to change until after Beijing marches in. Work with 1/n
Countries that actively want your assistance and where you can make a much bigger impact. Asia. One thing you hear constantly around Asia is that they practically plead for higher levels of US involvement. Let me emphasize that this does not mean the odd high level meeting 2/n
But continual flow of political, economic, institutional, and financial commitment to the region. Obama is largely viewed as a nice guy who said good things but was worthless on execution and a not insignificant part of Asia likes Trump on multiple levels but they keep 3/n
Wanting demonstration of sustained commitment of resources across policy domains and investment types to the region. I have written about this issue in numbers of formats & noted that the cost/investment needs to be substantial and reframing of entire US policy to the region 4/n
I think the Trump and USG policy has been slow to pick up on this and Congress does not want to realize the required spending increase needed in everything from State to aid to military spending. I would also make very clear and throw more elbows in conditioning money. 5/n
For instance, US aid comes with democratic and human rights obligations. Our aid does not bail out Cambodian profligacy debts to China for instance. Work with friendly Asian governments. Bring lots of resources. Ignore Europe. Short version. Done
