Lurking about the presidency in the guise of secretary of state, America’s chief diplomat has embarked upon a mistake that someday may rival Dean Acheson’s exclusion of Korea from the Pacific defense area, or April Glaspie’s muddled words to Saddam Hussein. At a regional meeting in Hanoi in late July, Hillary Clinton unveiled an initiative the effect of which is an attempt to forge a defensive alliance along the maritime perimeter, with nations such as Vietnam and the Philippines. Like her predecessor Acheson, Mrs. Clinton seems averse or blind to military analysis. Her inevitably stillborn South China Sea initiative is showy diplomacy that may lead either to a military clash with China or, more likely, a ratification of China’s aims as the United States lets its implied guarantees die on the vine.

Read the whole thing, then write him a letter asking when he’s coming out with a new novel.

Confucius, Œc. Vol.

Don’t ask impertinent questions like that jackass Adept Lu.