Nice share. Sachs and Mearsheimer are among the most prominent voices against current foreign policy. Maybe Sachs feels bad for spreading Shock Therapy to Russia and Iraq, which he later blamed others for mishandling. Historian Stephen Kotkin claimed that the EU did offer Russia a seat and a whole debt reset, but they walked away when they weren't given special standing like a Security Council seat for the UN. That would've been a game changer, but it would've upended centuries of how Russians ruled their people. For most of their critical concerns, the unspoken issue is that the US adopted the Brits style of maritime rule and control and made it theirs. I'd entertain the thought of returning to a budget League of Nations style of World Order if I were younger, but the 70(0) yr vicious cycle of violence in Palestine makes me think differently. Americans think of second chances and resets but that's ingrained in our hustle culture whereas most countries live in decades to centuries deep in history and blood feuds. Russia raped and pillaged the land inside the USSR. I don't know why they should have their own sandbox while we pretend those nukes are ever going away. And why the hell would we want Putin to be tie breaker in the upcoming power conflicts with China? I'd prefer Kotkin's alternative of deepening friendships with the EU, Japan, S. Korea, 5 Eyes and others as the collective West because it promotes a unified front, but it does lead us to greater chances of a nuclear event, much like the Cold War. For China, I'd like to hear their opinion on pre-covid Wolf Warrior diplomacy. If the PRC were more chill like during the Yao era, as an American I'd be more open to engaged competition rather than what we have right now. I can understand some of the PRC's attitude is in response to the West's moves against their manufacturing dominance, but at its core, the PRC is an authoritarian government that places themselves above the needs of their people. If they're in the Communistic mindset to spread Marxism at the expense of their people's gain, they can pivot on a dime and do it. I'm not sure free trade can smooth those edges, nor do I think the PRC views free trade with the same ethics and rules as the West. I can agree that the West isn't blameless either in terms of trade, but that's still relevant to the philisophical disagreements between the two sides.
