Wednesday, March 15, 2023
DeSantis, Backing Away From Ukraine, Angers G.O.P. Hawks – DNyuz
Declaring this week that defending Ukraine against Russia’s invasion was not a vital interest for the United States, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida cemented a Republican shift away from hawkish foreign policy that has played out over the past decade and accelerated with Donald J. Trump’s political rise.
Mr. Trump and Mr. DeSantis — whose combined support makes up more than 75 percent of Republican primary voters in the nascent 2024 presidential contest — are now largely aligned on Ukraine, signaling a sharp break from the interventionist approach that drove former President George W. Bush’s invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.
Republican foreign policy hawks recoiled at Mr. DeSantis’s statement on “Tucker Carlson Tonight” on Fox News on Monday night, in which the governor deviated from the position held by most of the Republican establishment on Capitol Hill, including Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader. Mr. McConnell and other top congressional Republicans have framed the invasion by President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia as a fight to defend the post-World War II international security framework.
via dnyuz.com
I really think DeSantis is wrong about this, even though this stance may help him get elected.
https://rightcoast.typepad.com/rightcoast/2023/03/desantis-backing-away-from-ukraine-angers-gop-hawks-dnyuz.html
Comments
Chamberlain was being perfectly reasonable. The question was whether Hitler was a Bismarck or a Napoleon. If the former his argument with Czechoslovakia was no business of Britain's. If the latter it would eventually mean war.
Only once Hitler had taken over rump Czechoslovakia was it clear that he was a Napoleon.
(Added to that Britain could do nothing worthwhile if France would not move and she was determined not to budge.)
Posted by: dearieme | Mar 16, 2023 6:37:58 AM
I agree that in 1937 Chamberlain made what can be argued to have been the right decision. But, after the fact it proved to be a terrible one. Perhaps deSantis is correct that we shouldn't be bothered by the Russia-Ukraine war. But I outlined the further consequences that I think are reasonably probable if Russia wins against Ukraine. I think these further consequences are more clear today than, perhaps, Hitler's ultimate intentions were in 1937.
There is also the question of whether China intends to invade Taiwan, It would be much more likely, in my opinion, if the U.S. were to abandon Ukraine. Taiwan is more important to us than the Ukraine because of the immensity of its chip manufacture.
Posted by: Paul McKaskle | Mar 16, 2023 1:53:01 PM
His comment is very much like Chamberlain's "a quarrel in a faraway land between people of which we know nothing." Surely deSantis doesn't want to be known as the 21st century Chamberlain. First Ukraine, then Moldova, then merge with Belarus, then Lithuania (to secure a direct connection with Kalinigrad (sp?) then Latvia and Estonia, then Poland or Romania. Will he stop there? Of course all of the aforementioned places aren't of "vital interest" to us.
Posted by: Paul McKaskle | Mar 15, 2023 2:58:31 PM