World Politics News   Articles for World Politics Course

Violence broke out between Spanish government police and Catalonian provincial police today as there were attempts to hold the referendum on Catalonian independence.  Hundreds of Catalans were injured as central government policy fired rubber bullets and used tear gas against would-be voters.  The vote had been declared illegal by the Spanish government and Catalan authorities were forced to move polling stations and ballot boxes to avoid confiscation.  It is hard to imagine that the Spanish government will emerge unscathed by the use of violence–preventing the vote was most likely the wrong place to take a stand against the independence movement.

In an extraordinary act, US President Trump rebuffed his Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson.  Yesterday. Tillerson indicated that the US was talking directly to North Korea about the impasse over the North Korean nuclear program which is exactly the right thing to do in any serious crisis.  Today President Trump tweeted:

“I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man….Save your energy Rex, we’ll do what has to be done!”

The comment is telling:  apparently President Trump no longer believes that diplomacy can be effective which leaves the use of force as the only alternative.  The question is whether Mr. Trump has already decided that force is inevitable.  Publicly giving up on negotiations will leave open the question as to whether all non-violent options were exhausted before the decision is made to go to war.  Moreover, Mr. Trump made the announcement while Mr. Tillerson was meeting with the Chinese who undoubtedly will think that Mr. Tillerson lacks legitimacy and does not speak for the President.  The public humiliation of a nation’s top diplomat is unconscionable.