John Kerry Goes to His Happy Place

[Valin]

Via Meadia:

Nicholas M. Gallagher

Nov. 24 2015

 

In the wake of the Paris attacks and the Turkish downing of a Russian bomber, John Kerry is going to the Middle East. . .to talk to the Israelis and Arabs about restarting the peace process. Aaron David Miller writes in the Wall Street Journal:

 

(Snip)

 

Miller’s other two points focus on the peace process specifically, and as usual, he’s a must-read for those interested in the subject.

Consider for a second the other worthy ways the good Secretary could be spending his time. A NATO country has just fired shots at the Russians, who incidentally have troops actively destabilizing Europe through Ukraine and, in conjunction with the Iranians, are sowing chaos across the Middle East. Yemen has basically fallen apart, and our Sunni allies are scared to death we’ve abandoned them.

 

Afghanistan’s weak government is imperiled by the Taliban, and Libya is an ungovernable hell-hole. The God wars are raging across Africa—particularly in oil-rich Nigeria—as communal tensions between Muslims and Christians continue to flare into violence. In Latin America, the ongoing collapse of Venezuela continues to cause under-appreciated problems for the Caribbean. Meanwhile, Brazil founders, and Argentina, having finally decided to elect a non-Peronist leader, could use some attention. And in the Far East, there’s the little matter of the rise of China, tensions in the South China Sea, and our still-incomplete pivot to Asia. In other words, there is almost anything a Secretary of State could be doing right now that would potentially be more productive than this trip.

 

(Snip)

[RandyM]

I believe he was 'in' Vietnam.... not so sure about 'served'.