Subject: Re: Venezuelan Oil Investment
Putin wants the US out of Europe, and Xi wants us out of the western Pacific. He’d rather Chinese chip makers control high end chip fabrication.


Great.

Then we’re back to “spheres of influence”.

It didn’t work when that was the presupposition that guided statecraft. And in our interconnected world, that is an even greater recipe for disaster.

For one thing, in another contemporaneous thread, you seem to be arguing (as Trump seems to be arguing) for intervention in Iran-in Russia’s backyard.

And this highlights the utter bankruptcy of “spheres of influence” statecraft. We’re all for keeping Russia out of the western hemisphere, but feel no hesitation about intervention on their doorstep.