MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Pentagon chief in Brazil and Argentina to strengthen bilateral relations
United States Defense Secretary James N. Mattis and Foreign Minister Aloysio Nunes of Brazil met on Monday at the Itamaraty Palace in Brazil to reaffirm the long-standing bilateral relationship between their nations, chief Pentagon spokesperson Dana W. White said. Read full article
Comments
Disclaimer & comment rulesEnd of coup, Mr. Secretary of Defense.
Aug 14th, 2018 - 01:38 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Mr. Secretary, your country has missed a great chance to reconnect with Brazil. Now it's too late. And, we all know that USA is a country that supports and disseminates scams in your back-yard.
Consider Brazil as a stranger!
Getting closer with those who consider Latin America as their backyard has never worked for any of our countries. Under the current administration the prospects are much worse.
Aug 14th, 2018 - 06:36 pm - Link - Report abuse 0A more multipolar world would be the most desirable outcome of president Trump's “make America great again” line of work.
Desirable for who? We had a multipolar world until 1991, and everyone was living in fear of nuclear annihilation. Not to mention the trillions spent (wasted) on the military, the proxy wars, and the iron curtain across Europe.
Aug 14th, 2018 - 08:45 pm - Link - Report abuse -2@DT
Aug 15th, 2018 - 04:03 am - Link - Report abuse 0Totally agree with your assessment of what went on until 1991, the fear and the waste. Only I saw the after-war power balance as bipolar.
This vision may be simplistic but it reflect the view of Latin Americans, who during the Cold War had only the choice of being under one block or the other. This precluded us from seeking our own paths to democracy, development and stability. In the 2000s, the U.S. forgot about us for a while and that permitted the election of several progressive governments and an economic jump ahead.
When I wish for a more multipolar world I mean a world in which power is simply more spread around, as opposed to have a single dominant power.
Of course, one day humankind will abandon its primitive ways of solving conflict through wasteful armed and economic war, and cooperation will make things easier for all - perhaps a few generations ahead.
That's kind of the point though. Since the cold war ended the US has been the lone superpower, and Latin America has prospered. As long as America feels secure, it doesn't much care what countries to the south are doing. The risk is that as China or whoever else becomes more powerful, the US will feel threatened and want to remove any perceived competition in their 'backyard', similar to how they reacted to any hint of alignment with the USSR back in the 60s.
Aug 15th, 2018 - 02:59 pm - Link - Report abuse +1Besides, looking at history there have been long periods where one country was dominant, with mostly minor wars, and eventually the rise of another power upsets this order, leading to the massive world-war style conflicts. Having several evenly matched powers is an unstable situation, as Europe found out in 1914. We managed to escape the cold war without a disaster, I'd rather not risk it again.
Commenting for this story is now closed.
If you have a Facebook account, become a fan and comment on our Facebook Page!