Former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Chas Freeman evaluated Vice President J.D. Vance’s presentation in Munich, in a “Dialogue Works” interview with Nima Alkhorshid on Feb. 14. “Well, it was quite a difficult thing for Europeans to hear. It obviously will please much of the Trump constituency, because it was very hard line. There is, I must say, a certain irony in Vice President Vance extolling the virtues of dialogue and free speech, when the Trump administration is taking action to silence anyone who speaks about Palestine, or genocide. In fact, the Trump administration is going after universities, and the main explainer of the policy of going after universities is J.D. Vance. So there’s a certain irony here. I’m not sure how much credibility he has on that subject, or the Trump administration. But the most important parts of the speech were about the transatlantic relationship , and when you put these together with what newly-appointed Defense Secretary Hegseth said, I think you can draw several conclusions.
“One is that the United States is downgrading the strategic importance of Europe, and turning to the Pacific. There’s always been a debate among our strategists over whether we should emphasize the Atlantic, or the Pacific. We face both. In World War II, we put priority on the Atlantic, on Europe, and now I think it’s clear we have switched to the Pacific.
