The US Navy
has been doing something unusual, carrier swapping. Usually when one enters the
Navy you more or less spend your career either plugged into the Atlantic or
Pacific fleets. But due to personnel problems, the need to re-fuel existing
craft (that would be nuclear refueling) and in order to keep the active or
cutting edge on the Pacific side, the Navy has been in the process of swapping
ships and crews between locations like San Diego and Norfolk.
What's telling is that there is an obvious desire to keep the
active and perhaps 'readiest' carrier groups stationed on the Pacific side.
While the previously Norfolk-based USS Lincoln did an
extended cruise with a focus toward the Persian Gulf and the crisis with Iran,
its new home port of San Diego points to the fact that despite Trump's constant
reversing of Obama era policies, his administration continues to posture
against China. His strategy is different, even chaotic but it's rooted in an
expression of US might and the projection of its power into the Western
Pacific.
Whether through the trade war policies or the up-tick in US
Navy operations, the Trump administration is trying to break China and yet few
think the plan is working. The US State Department continues to express
frustration with its allies for not providing more support. Both the Obama and
Trump administrations have expressed disappointment with Australia for failing
to get fully on board and join in with US naval 'Freedom of Navigation'
operations which are a US policy meant to provoke Beijing in the South China
Sea.
From the standpoint of Canberra, such a project is tantamount
to economic suicide and yet all too often the US has called on its allies to
fall on their swords for the greater cause. That said the election of Scott
Morrison in 2018 was a boon for the Trump administration. The previous Turnbull
government had been a disappointment and had been upbraided more than once by
the Obama administration as represented by Joe Biden. Morrison on the other
hand is an Evangelical and eager to find a path forward and retain the close
relationship with Washington, even while keeping his China-dependent economy on
solid footing. It will be interesting to see the fallout from the wildfire
catastrophe and whether or not it brings down his government. In the meantime
the US continues to push for further involvement on the part of Australia,
Japan, New Zealand and South Korea.
Many view Trump's policies as having weakened the Pivot
strategy. He pulled the US out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and has
downgraded US readiness and had canceled war-games on the Korean peninsula.
While his allies are quick to praise his actions with regard to North Korea,
many will point out that nothing has been resolved and a crisis could erupt
once more at any time. The victories for Kim Jong-un have been significant but
thus far Trump can't claim any accomplishment.
The jury is still out on Trump's trade war policies. Some
laud them and would point to the latest figures regarding China's economy. Some
view the pending trade deal as a boon for the US agricultural sector. But
there's also been obfuscation. The media has paid very little attention to the
massive subsidy programme which the administration put in place for US
agriculture and did so by circumventing congress. Significant subsidies have
been passed on to American farmers, an interesting ploy that's certain to win
votes in the fall. Of course had Obama initiated such a package, let alone if
he done it by executive action it no doubt would have been decried as
tyrannical socialism.
The apologists for capitalism are quick to dispense with
their principles when it serves the interests of their political party. I have
to say the Ron Paul-minded and affiliated groups are probably the only ones
that have any integrity on this point. They would let the farms fail but then
of course they wouldn't have supported the tariffs in the first place.
Trump's foreign policy backers were banking on the fact that
he would keep up the pressure on China and try to extract the US from conflict
within the Middle East and with Russia. It would seem thus far he hasn't had a
lot of success on any front.
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