Only eight years ago, the Chinese helped us rescue Matt Damon from Mars. Now we are in the Balloon War phase of the eventual, maybe, 2025 Indo-Pacific Conflict. Buy your next iPhone now, it says here.
It may have been Lord Palmerston or Henry Kissisnger or Don Ameche who said nations have no permanent friends or permanent enemies, only permanent interests.
I don’t care for this mindset but it is a prevailing one among many leaders, and so I try not to get too excited about things. I know, for example, that we will not probaby be at loggerheads with Russia permanently, and we will not be permanently at loggerheads with China. At some point,a new memo may issue on who we should dislike and who we should like.
It is exhausting for Hollywood screenwriters, because it shortens the shelf life of movies. Just 26 years ago, a Russian intelligence officer is helping George Clooney track down nuclear terrorists. Now our military is helping Ukranians double-check coordinates for HIMARS against the Russians. It is possible that Putin may be deposed in 2024 and we would be friends with Moscow again, who knows.
We are excited because a guy who grew up in Hanoi while we were still bombing it is building a car factory in Chatham County. There are plenty of movies about Vietnam but none of them yet have economic developers providing tax incentives to the North Vietnamese. Of course, 58 years ago, in a speech at Johns Hopkins, Lyndon Johnson offered aid to Ho Chi Minh if he would just quit invading South Vietnam, TVA-style dams on the Mekong instead of Rolling Thunder. Ask any developer; it takes time to get all the permits and entitlements.
If you want new friends and new enemies, just wait.