Sam Freedman in TLS: ‘One option is to assume that Trump’s erratic behaviour is part of a cunning plan to discombobulate opponents and get his way.’

And: ‘During the 2024 campaign, he told the Wall Street Journal that he wouldn’t need to use force against China because President Xi “respects me and he knows I’m fucking crazy”. (That these things are contradictory seems to have escaped him.)’

Also: ‘While other states find Trump hard to deal with, they have figured out that the best way to deal with him is through a combination of flattery, pretend compliance and waiting him out.’

Finally: ‘Bill Clinton’s decision to intervene in Kosovo also violated a narrow understanding of US interests, but it worked and it saved countless lives.’

Kosovo as the last highlight of American foreign policy. Poor Kosovans.

Less isolationism, more interventions? But not in Iran. Play it safe. Albania?

(a sf 2210)