The Iran deal

[Bengalzona]

(05-08-2018, 05:43 PM)PhilHos Wrote: Trump may be the least diplomatic president we've ever had, that doesn't mean that all Republican presidents have and/or will be horrible diplomats.

I agree with this.

IMO, things changed shortly after 9-11 during the Bush II admin. In particular, when we went into Iraq (our allies understood our need and desire to go into Afghanistan and generally didn't oppose that out of courtesy). Our country became more willing to take on global actions without having most (or, in some cases, even some) of our allies onboard. All admins since WWII had generally tried to reach some consensus with our allies prior to engaging in such actions. The classic example was Bush I putting together what might have been the largest coalition ever for the Gulf War.

I don't bring this up to flog the Bush II admin. Rather, I mention it to show when the conservative nature changed to the current neo-conservative attitude of "we don't need them". "America First" literally translates to "America Alone" in global diplomacy. And some people are fine with that.

Personally, I think Newton's Third Law of Physics also applies to diplomacy and politics (i.e. "equal and opposite reaction...). When other people get tired of the elephant rolling over in the bed on top of them, history shows that they get rid of the elephant.