My thoughts on the General Assembly speech:
- If the idea was to come across as an angry, bellicose, snarling force of nature, it worked admirably.
- Part of the purpose of the speech apparently was to try to reconcile the two opposing strands of Bannonism: extreme nationalism and international cooperation against enemies of the West. As such, it was a complete and utter failure. We apparently believe in universal human rights in places like Iran, Venezuela, and North Korea, but in “sovereignty” for places like Saudi Arabia. You can be sure that the Russians and Chinese will have taken note.
- I can’t help thinking that Trump is prepared to go to war with North Korea if he is driven to it, but he really wants to go to war with Iran.
- Who was the audience for this speech? The strident tone won’t reassure our erstwhile allies. Our enemies won’t be intimidated. I can only conclude that it was just more red meat for his base, which in this context includes the governments of Israel and the Arab nations that hate Iran.