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Obama’s olive branches are lifelines for authoritarian regimes
Washington Post ^ | November 8, 2015 | Jackson Diehl

Posted on 11/13/2015 9:42:39 AM PST by Ooh-Ah

At the heart of President Obama's foreign policy is a long bet: that American engagement with previously shunned regimes will, over time, lead to their liberalization, without the need for either a messy domestic revolution or a bloody U.S. use of force. By definition, it will be years before we know whether the policy works.

It nevertheless is becoming clear that the regimes on which Obama has lavished attention have greeted his overtures with a counter-strategy. It's possible, they calculate, to use the economic benefits of better relations to entrench their authoritarian systems for the long term, while screening out any liberalizing influence. Rather than being subverted by U.S. dollars, they would be saved by them.

...

So the message is: It's okay to capture U.S. dollars while excluding U.S. business and cracking down on anyone favoring liberalization. No wonder the dictators are winning.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial; Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: cuba; iran; obama

1 posted on 11/13/2015 9:42:40 AM PST by Ooh-Ah
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To: Ooh-Ah

worked well for jimmy carter, so why not try it again?


2 posted on 11/13/2015 9:47:26 AM PST by God luvs America (63.5 million pay no income tax and vote for DemoKrats...)
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To: Ooh-Ah

Jackson Diehl needs to understand - if we give our lunch money to the school bully he’ll be kind to us... works every time./s


3 posted on 11/13/2015 10:15:47 AM PST by GOPJ
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To: Ooh-Ah

Where is Kerry , North Korea ?


4 posted on 11/13/2015 10:31:09 AM PST by butlerweave
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