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Thanks @realDonaldTrump, but I'm going to explain it anyway
[THREAD] https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1262577580718395393
[THREAD] https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1262577580718395393
The timing of Trump's letter is no accident.
Yesterday and Today is the @WHO World Health Assembly Conference https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/18/world-health-assembly-what-is-it-and-what-is-the-coronavirus-inquiry-china-taiwan-origins
Yesterday and Today is the @WHO World Health Assembly Conference https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/18/world-health-assembly-what-is-it-and-what-is-the-coronavirus-inquiry-china-taiwan-origins
A key item of discussion at the conference is this draft resolution calling for a full inquiry into the origins of #COVID19
Source: https://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/WHA73/A73_CONF1Rev1-en.pdf
Source: https://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/WHA73/A73_CONF1Rev1-en.pdf
Trump wants an investigation (but hasn't yet signed the above declaration) ...
Also, as Trump reminded everyone with the first paragraph of his letter, the US is withholding funds from the @WHO as it looks into the @WHO's relationship with China.
And Trump upped the ante by threatening to make the cuts permanent
Side note: this is straight from Trump's @NATO playbook https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/natosource/trump-confirms-he-threatened-to-withdraw-from-nato/
In short, the US is using "sticks" to make the @WHO do what it wants.
Just so happens that this could be a useful election strategy for Trump https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/04/25/senate-gop-talking-points-coronavirus-blame-china-not-trump/
Just so happens that this could be a useful election strategy for Trump https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/04/25/senate-gop-talking-points-coronavirus-blame-china-not-trump/
But here's the thing: China is not too keen on starting up an inquiry https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/19/asia/xi-jinping-china-who-coronavirus-investigation-intl-hnk/index.html
But whereas the US is threatening to withdraw funds, China made a big money pledge toward the creation of a vaccine https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-who/us-savages-who-as-it-promises-pandemic-review-but-china-pledges-2-billion-idUSKBN22U111
This pledge puts specifics on a vague commitment China made a few weeks ago at the @WHO Virtual Telethon https://twitter.com/ProfPaulPoast/status/1257642946083590144
But China took the pledge a step further: it promised to make any vaccine developed in China a "global public good". For those who study International Relations Theory, such language is significant https://twitter.com/ProfPaulPoast/status/1262520419095064577
"Hegemonic Stability Theory" is in reference to the theory first articulated by Charles Kindleberger... https://twitter.com/ProfPaulPoast/status/1135146653827117057
... and later expanded by scholars such as Stephen Krasner and Robert Keohane https://twitter.com/ProfPaulPoast/status/1256919617395585025
In contrast, the US has made not such "global public good" promises with respect to a vaccine. Instead, "Operation Warp Speed" (no joke) is an "America First" policy
Source: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-vaccine-development/
Source: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-vaccine-development/
So Trump's letter & China's pledge are just the latest in the ongoing saga of "Pandemic Power Politics Posturing"
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