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Thread: Interests in common: Should China join the Global SOF Network?

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  1. #1
    Council Member Bob's World's Avatar
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    We already overly employ "CT" to help partners keep in check revolutionary movements with few effective legal means to advance their reasonable concerns.

    I (like President Washington long before me) am an advocate for the idea that the US needs to be far less quick to judge some party as permanent "friend" or "foe;" better we look for shared and conflicting interests and tailor partnerships and conflicts accordingly. Then we will be better prepared to find opportunities with states such as China and Iran where they exist (and they do exist); and less likely to drag valued allies and partners into situations (Afghanistan, the current dust up with ISIL, etc) where they perhaps no direct interest themselves beyond maintaining relations with the US.

    But China has little interest in most the US sees as "terrorists" (a term that truly has no strategic meaning); and similarly I doubt it is much in the interest of the US to employ CT against Chinese revolutionaries.

    Probably best that governments everywhere take a step or two back from the mindset behind the CT strategies of the past decade plus, and work to better understand the revolutionary energy behind most of these actors and to focus more on the policy/political evolutions necessary for governments everywhere to stay more in step with the rapidly evolving expectations of the populations they affect (many of which do not live within the borders of the government impacting them.

    The world isn't getting simpler, but some simple changes of perspective could yield some very positive gains in how we deal with the complexity of it all. Simple can master complexity, but simplistic tends to just muddy it up.
    Robert C. Jones
    Intellectus Supra Scientia
    (Understanding is more important than Knowledge)

    "The modern COIN mindset is when one arrogantly goes to some foreign land and attempts to make those who live there a lesser version of one's self. The FID mindset is when one humbly goes to some foreign land and seeks first to understand, and then to help in some small way for those who live there to be the best version of their own self." Colonel Robert C. Jones, US Army Special Forces (Retired)

  2. #2
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    A potential opening, but I don't recommend anyone placing bets on combined operations anytime in the near future. Still, any progress could be positive over time.

    http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2014/...ref=world&_r=0

    For Obama and Xi, Fight Against Islamic State a Brief Moment to Agree

    Both countries have flagged that President Barack Obama and President Xi Jinping will discuss the issue when they meet on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Beijing.
    Much more in the article, but this addresses the rub between China and the U.S., who are terrorists? and what is the appropriate response?

    "The United States stands by its decision to designate ETIM a terrorist organization by executive order in 2002. Furthermore, we support the U.N. designation of ETIM," Daniel Russel, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, told Reuters.

    QUID PRO QUO?

    Russel, however, noted that Chinese government measures in Xinjiang "stoke discontent" and dismissed the idea that there was a shift to lend Beijing's policies more credence in return for less criticism from China on U.S. operations in Syria in Iraq.
    Last edited by davidbfpo; 07-13-2019 at 06:14 PM. Reason: 39,224v today as thread reopened

  3. #3
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    Default Sharing China's Ct experience

    A Tweet by Professor Bruce Hoffman, a CT SME, following a NYT article (behind a pay wall):
    Chinese diplomats suggested that China’s experience in tackling terrorism could even be usefully shared with other countries.” Expect this argument to become more prevalent in a world where the values of Western liberal democracy are derided & undermined.
    Link:https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/12/w...-nations.html?

    The linked Reuters report lists you signed, all are paragons of virtue:
    As well as Saudi Arabia and Russia, the letter was signed by ambassadors from many African countries, North Korea, Venezuela, Cuba, Belarus, Myanmar, the Philippines, Syria, Pakistan, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
    Link:https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-ch...-idUKKCN1U721L
    Last edited by davidbfpo; 07-13-2019 at 07:18 PM. Reason: Add 2nd link and quote
    davidbfpo

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