Excellent commentary by Anatol Lieven of the Quincy Institute for Responsible statecraft - one of the few people who makes me proud to be British. His commentary is spot on in examining Trumps rambling speech at the UN (which Trump insists was sabotaged by the UN)...
'....the most important moment in the speech was when Trump denied the existence of climate change, calling it “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world”, and denouncing alternative energy as useless. With this, Trump set himself at odds with clear evidence backed by common sense observation, with the vast majority of the countries represented at the UN, and with reality itself.
By ruling out the development of alternative energy in the US, Trump did not just deliberately concede the leading role in a critical area of industrial and technological development to China; he gave China the right to portray itself as the leading global representative of a rational, scientifically-based view of the world and of human development - precisely the role that for a century and a half the US had justly claimed for itself..........If the Chinese leadership is sensible, after listening to Trump’s speech they will sit back, have some tea, continue quietly with their existing policies and watch the United States destroy its own empire.
