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comment by user-inactivated
user-inactivated  ·  2672 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Michael Lewis on the (lack of) transition in the DoE after the election, and the concomitant risks

Either I'm overestimating the degree to which our foreign policy for the next four years is whatever sounds good to old guys who watch Fox News all day or you're underestimating it.





kleinbl00  ·  2672 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I know that what they call "the deep state" is what the rest of us call "a functioning government" and I know that if Steve Bannon et. al. could get the Israelis to bomb Iran they would already have done so.

Foreign policy isn't carried out by Rick Perry and Rex Tillerson. It's carried out by arguewithatree and that one of the principle benefits of bureaucracy is its resilience to shock. The current administration may very much want to kick the anthill that is the Middle East but everyone they didn't appoint has a much better understanding of the risks and consequences than they do.