"You are watching the 2016 Republican primary campaign, trying to figure out if Ted Cruz or Marco Rubio can stop Donald Trump from winning the Republican nomination. A man from the future steps out of a shimmering portal and informs you that the winner of the primary campaign will go on to be the Republican president who will finally bomb Iran's nuclear program."
"Hmm, you say, maybe Ted Cruz. But there's more, the traveler says. The same Republican president will ship armaments to support Ukraine in a brutal war against Vladimir Putin's Russia. OK, you say, then we can probably scratch Trump off the list. And finally, your visitor informs you, this president will put in place a naval blockade of socialist Venezuela, aiming at a Latin American realignment that might undermine Venezuela's ally Cuba as well."
"The presidency in 2026 belongs to Trump, and the language of his administration sounds nothing like the idealistic neoconservatism that defined Rubio's political brand a decade ago. Depending on the document or day of the week, Trumpism can sound like Nixonian realism, pre-World War II isolationism or just a swaggering mercantile imperialism. Influence pervasive But look at what the administration is actually doing, not just how it talks,"
A 2016 primary scenario includes a future traveler predicting a Republican president who bombs Iran's nuclear program, arms Ukraine, and imposes a naval blockade on Venezuela to realign Latin America against Cuba. A bettor chooses Marco Rubio but Donald Trump wins the 2026 presidency. The administration's rhetoric departs from Rubio-style neoconservatism and varies between Nixonian realism, isolationism, and mercantile imperialism. Despite divergent language, the administration pursues hawkish policies: continued American military support for Ukraine, military action in the Middle East, and pressure on Venezuela, reflecting neoconservative objectives in practice.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]