Trump Names Secretary of State
Trump announced his plans to nominate Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson to be the Secretary of State. Notably, he has close ties with Putin.
Tillerson worked so closely with Putin that after a 2011 oil deal, he was awarded the Russian Order of Friendship — a recognition from the Russian government that has gone to a variety of global figures, including sports stars.
What do you think of Trump's nomination?
Trump is so fucking pro business and getting shit done, I love it.
1) Russia is not our enemy 2) Repeat number one
Agreed on both parts
fuck it, I hope Tillerson does well.
As someone who was born in Eastern Europe under the Soviet Empire, do not discount Russia's antipathy towards Western values, namely the U.S.'s. Russia may not be an enemy, but it is very far from a friend. It will always look after its own interests first and foremost, and the people are distrustful of Americans and generally do not like them. Russia is not exactly a champion of human rights, as much of the country's declining population has literally no social or economic mobility and lives a rural life. The urban centers of development are blanketed by state-controlled media and propaganda.
Bottom line - If there is an opportunistic opening for Russia to further its own interests at the expense of the U.S.'s interests, there will be no hesitation to act, so long as negative fallout is calculated as tolerable on a risk-adjusted basis.
"If there is an opportunistic opening for Russia to further its own interests at the expense of the U.S.'s interests, there will be no hesitation to act"
Exactly what country doesn't look after their own interests above others?
Russia is an expansionist regime, which equals bullying and the proliferation of counter-democratic ideals. If you believe in that "Russia is not our enemy" crap, then God bless you.
Does that mean we can't work closely with them, and keep up dialogue? No. But should we turn our heads and discount all knowledge of what Russia is capable of? Hell no, because that would be foolish.
Sorry, but if you think we (the USA) do not do the exact same thing you are living in a fantasy.
And how exactly is Russia our enemy? They planning a cross Atlantic amphibious landing? The cold war is dead. Russia has many of the same risks as we have (Islamic inspired terrorism, states with political leanings far different from each other, dealing with the rise of China).
Russia, like China and countless other nation states try and hack us, steal our IP, etc. This doesn't make them our enemy. It makes them independent nations jockeying for power in a muti polar power structure.
But hey, we should turn up the rhetoric, isolate them and create another cold war. Makes total sense.
they may not be our enemy but i sure as hell don't fucking trust them
do you?
And who would you trust? Like did I say anywhere about trusting them? But I find it dubious how we treat China with kid gloves, but anything bad that happens in the US is magically "Russia's Fault".
Please. Lets stop demonizing a major power player and work together and find some mutual benefit. Let's not forget that Obama and his team's rhetoric caused Russia to move away from our nuclear reduction treaty. How about we get this back on track.
3) Don't forget number 2
I only agree on point #2. Also, tired of the leftists bigots and their russiaphobia.
Yeah the left is russiaphobic. Not the right.
Dumbasses like you use "leftist" as a generic term, devoid of any real meaning.
+1 SB... Haters gonna hate
And before people try and spin this as Trump nominating Putin's allies, both Gates and Rice support Tillerman.
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/12/condoleezza-rice-and-rober…
Rex is a decent candidate I guess
shut up
Some people I know met him and spoke with him.
I was gonna vote for DickFuld , but...he's got a date with a bottle of Sapphire.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, the Democrats only became warhawks against Russia in the last few years when the Russian regime came out very conspicuously against gay rights. Up until then the left of the Democratic party had been sucking off communists and Russia for the last half century. Literally nothing about Russia's behavior has changed in the last 2 to 4 years that would cause the left of the Democratic party to go from "Russian re-set" and "Romney is crazy" to anti-Russian warhawks.
The reality is, Russia is "socially conservative" on the issue of gay rights, and the left of the Democratic party in the last 5-10 years has become militantly pro-gay/transgendered rights and no longer see Russia as a cultural ally. Let's just call a spade a spade. What I find most amusing is watching the left of the Democratic party, which for 50 years has consistently badmouthed the United States and its foreign policy, twist itself into knots to explain why Russia is worse than the United States--their contradiction is so obvious to themselves that you can see the painful expression on their faces as they defend America.
By the way, one of my friends is a Russian expert and works for an un-named national security federal bureaucracy and he said there is one reason and one reason alone that Putin is pro-Trump--Trump is the only candidate in either major political party in the primaries or in the general election that was talking detente with Russia. Every other candidate was saber rattling against Russia. So Putin's Trump support is no great surprise.
Nice story, but the facts don't care about your feelings. Republicans have changed their tune on Russia, not Dems. And by your logic that no behavior has changed recently, what would explain the GOP's sudden love for Russia, besides that their new Great Leader Trump tells them what they should believe?
Net favorability of Putin
Democrats 2014 - negative 54 2016 - negative 62
Republicans 2014 - negative 66 2016 - negative 10
Source - Economist Poll - https://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/ro9rimrc…
First of all, I'm not talking about "man-on-the-street" Dems or Republicans, so these polls are irrelevant. The average man on the street knows almost nothing about everything relating to foreign policy, and that cuts across party lines. I'm talking about the liberal Democrat political class (that is, the politically activist liberals).
Secondly, you have your stats, but there are others that disagree. Gallup shows that the opinion of Democrats toward Russia has plummeted since 2013 (GOP has traditionally held negative views of Russia):
http://www.gallup.com/poll/189284/americans-russia-less-negatively-less…
I wish there were stats that go back to 2000 because I would bet dollars to donuts that Democrat opinion of Russia has plummeted under President Obama.
Trump has turned out to be more establishment than Clinton or Obama ever have been!
Well, all I can say is that there are different rules of business in Russia and Rex seems like he might know them. I worked at a Russian bank for a while and none of the Americans ever lasted more than 2 years, mostly because they never picked up on how office politics worked there (and I am talking even senior hires- guys who usually stay a long time). I mean, yeah talk to me all you want about office politics at a BB, but it's the wild wild west when it comes to Russia.
That being said it never ends well for foreigners with Russia over the long term....and well I speak from experience.
On that note, anyone ever read "The Exile"?
Putin is much, much smarter than Trump and has much more experience in diplomacy and politics. Since the two countries only share a small set of problems, but have very different overall agendas, I wouldn't suggest being too happy about the new relationship with Russia.
Clever, experienced, shrewd, trained in espionage definitely.
I cant comment on smarter, Trump does have the benefit of a stellar cabinet (so far). So a strong team with people who have business experience in Russia (and Asia) will help. They have technology and infrastructure needs therein lies opportunity. The trick is (as will most of Asia) their respect for IP does not conform to western views.. So don't expect much protection. Someone said they are "not communists of capitalists" however Moscow at least, is very capitalistic. They like their luxury, much of the rest of the country knows little about it because the goods are just not offered. Now that collectivism is gone is is about looking out for No.1 over there. Americans understand little about the politics of Eurasia because the country is only 200 some years old. The Europeans and Asians have been overrunning each others borders for centuries particularly in the corridor that extends south from central Russia to Egypt. Many of the members of NATO are no exception (France in particular is no saint, they just got overwhelmed with internal strife). There are bitter displaced and disenfranchised people throughout that corridor and the West really has no more chance of dictating what happens there then they have chance of settling the Middle East. The best approach is to approach any business venture in the area with caution and appropriate risk management. Foreign policy in such an area is really just a matter trying to protect business and strategic interests and expats working in those areas to some degree.
Trump's cabinet isn't what I would call stellar. Tillerson is an interesting choice, which is possibly being over-scrutinized because of the current political climate. Still, it is a pick that is raising enough concerns with enough senators in both parties and that makes it worthy of being heavily scrutinized. This is a clear signal that we are going to create a new partnership with Russia, or at least attempt one. That in itself is not an issue, but don't fool yourself- crony capitalism is in full swing with the new administration.
Not American. This is great, I need you guys to stop exporting oil.
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