Monday, November 14, 2011

Cesar Millan and Sino US Relations


Recently I've been watching a lot of Cesar Millan, Dog Whisperer on the National Geographic Channel and feel like a lot of his ideas can be extrapolated out into life outside of dogs. Why is this possible? Well, because Cesar is basically correct in the tools he uses to deal with problem dogs and their dysfunctional owners. This is because his methods are based on certain simple truths, meaning that they can easily be placed onto other unconnected issues and still be very applicable. For example, I find that the way he refers to energy levels really helps me with my one-year old daughter. A memorable quote was when he rebuked a dysfunctional dog-parent for all the troubles with her pet, as Cesar so eloquently put it, "You are to blame because you are the parent. You are the source of their information." These are wise words that can certainly be used outside of dog training.

So ok, I may sound a little crazy using a dog expert to help me bring up my one-year old daughter, but would it be a step too far to apply Cesar Millan's methods to International Relations and specifically the increasingly fractious Sino/US dynamic?

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Sunday, November 13, 2011

US Carrot and Stick

Right now the news wires are full of the AirSea Battle concept and this is no coincidence. Without question the US is now engaging in a concerted push in the Asia Pacific region and offering a full package of engagement. What is important to note is the AirSea Battle concept is only half the story, the other half is shaping up as we speak at the APEC Summit in the form of the TransPacific Partnership. (TTP)

The TTP is the US vision of the future for Asia Pacific rehashing ideas such as;
  • Comprehensive market access
  • Regulatory coherence
  • Government Procurement
  • Protection of Intellectual Property
  • Legal and labour rights

None of these ideas are new, but are concepts that are seen as been diluted in other agreements, especially where China is gaining traction. Therefore the US aims to realign Asia Pacific under the values that it cherishes and it has prospered from in the past.

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