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OpEdNews Op Eds    H4'ed 12/17/16

Making Sense of Trump

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Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich
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A month has passed since Donald Trump was declared president-elect soon to be the 45th president of the United States. Since his win, pundits, analysts, and experts continue to debate the victory -- a surprise to most. While the reason/s for this victory depend on one's perspective, most agree on one thing: Trump is unpredictable.

But is he really?

There is clear indication that US foreign policy will not change course under a Trump administration -- it will simply change tactic. Those who continue to believe that the relations with Russia are headed for a reset are more optimistic than analytical. The US may deviate from the path previously trodden, but it is still headed for the same goal/s.

Trump resembles Loki -- a colorful character in Norse mythology. Similar to Loki, what is thought and said about Trump depends on the source. And similar to Loki, Trump is a trickster, a shape shifter (policy shifter). So to understand him better, we should concentrate on what we do know -- his team.

Judging from his picks, Trump considers Islam as the number one enemy, followed by Iran, China, and Russia. The ideology of those he has picked to serve in his administration are supporters of this continuity in US foreign policy, and, contradicts his campaign slogan of 'non-interference'. Numerous articles analyzing Trump's choices point to the mindset of his team (click on names to read relevant articles) including Mike Pence, General Flynn, James Mattis, and John Bolton,(see footnote for additional links) [i]

Additionally, Israel's domination of US policy has never been more apparent. Decades earlier many considered other than occupied Palestine "". the White House occupied territory". Donald Trump proved them right. His son-in-law Jared Kushner will have an office in the West Wing of the White House. Kushner has financed illegal, Jewish settlements on Palestinian land.

The above stated information is the obvious -- what meets the eye. What is more crucial is obfuscated. While Trump has made his position vis--vis China, Iran, and "radical Islam" abundantly clear, the media has led us on a different path where Russia is concerned. As such, one could be forgiven for thinking that Trump will reset the button with Russia. In fact, in the scheme of things, Trump is attempting to wean Russia away from China, Iran, and Syria in order to continue and accomplish US goals: Total domination, prevent Russia from re-emerging, contain China, contain Iran, Israel expansion.

It is important to Trump team to weaken both Russia and China by creating a divide between them - favoring one over the other. Trump defends Russia against allegations of hacking. To the unsuspecting eye, he has appointed a seemingly "Russia friendly" Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson (though undoubtedly the hawkish under-secretary of state John Bolton will be behind the wheel). Though under close scrutiny, Tillerson as Secretary of State is certainly not an 'offering' to Putin, although but he may well be a Trojan Horse.

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Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Soraya has lived and studied in-Iran, UK, France, and has obtained her Master's degree in Public Diplomacy from USC Annenberg and USC School for International Studies, Los Angeles.- She is an independent researcher, public speaker, radio (more...)
 

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