by exploited » Fri Apr 03, 2020 1:56 pm
Your position makes no sense, and is flatly contradicted by all available historical evidence. At no point during Donald Trump's term has he successfully brought any player, whether Europe or China or Canada, to heel. Every single time he tries this stuff, he fails and directly harms his own economy and country. Every single time he tries this, retaliatory measures are put into place, and kept in place, by all of these regions, including Canada. Even when a country - like China - deserves this treatment, and the international community should be rallying behind that treatment, Trump drives his allies away and makes it less likely for needed action to take place. Donald Trump is not a rational or reliable actor, anything less than a strong, equivalent response is impossible. You are reading into these actions a strategy that does not actually exist.
Further to the point, the US is in the worst possible position it could be regarding the economy and this virus. The global economy is cratered and Trump's response to this virus has guaranteed you will be the hardest hit country on the planet, by several orders of magnitude. You will be locked down for months longer than anyone else, and it is gonna be CHYNA that fills the void.
And while I certainly agree re: the strategic implications of medical supplies, that is a conversation that any rational person would push to the after-action review. Not when the bullets are flying. It is absolute idiocy to do this at this point in time. It benefits nobody - not even you - and harms everyone.
There simply is no rational justification for this. It is straight dumb. Pandemics are global in scope and need to be addressed globally, using international supply lines to craft the most effective response. "Every man for himself" in these situations is literally the stupidest thing you could ever do, which is presumably why Europeans adopted it early.