BREXIT: Talk of a 'no deal' Brexit grows as deadline looms - by: Elizabeth Piper, Padraic Halpin

Talk of a chaotic British split from the European Union grew on Tuesday with just three weeks left to break a deadlock in trade deal negotiations, with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson warning that the two sides may have to accept “no deal”.

Read more at: Talk of a 'no deal' Brexit grows as deadline looms | Reuters

Britain - Brexit: No deal dossier shows chaos and food shortages

Brexit: No-deal dossier shows worst-case scenario 

 

Read more at: 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-49388402

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"The Anglophile Drama": How the U.S. and U.K. are partners in chaos - by Ben White and Aubree Eliza Weaver

This happened when populists like 
Farage and Trump called for Brexit

A little thought bubble as we head into the weekend and the short Thanksgiving week. Morning -Money" spent some time over the last several days in Washington and New York with a variety of executives who are sifting through the 2018 midterm election results and trying to make some sense of the path of U.S. politics.

Many are trying to figure out where America is headed with a growing schism between a metro-area dominated, more highly educated electorate trending toward the Democrats and smaller town and rural voters sticking with President Donald Trump and the GOP and embracing the president’s hardline trade and immigration policies and his culture war appeals.

Consensus among these executives (and frankly among anyone else) is that American politics is a directionless wreck with no path forward on anything from health care to education to retirement savings to climate change and gun violence and long-term fiscal deficits. One British banker mused about how he’s never seen the U.S. so screwed up or derelict on the world stage.

Then he stopped himself almost immediately to say how the U.K. really wasn’t any better with no consensus on how to deal with Brexit, a potential end to Prime Minister Theresa May’s tenure, a civil war inside the Conservative party and a plunging pound. It remains largely unclear in the U.K. whether May’s softer Brexit plan will somehow survive or no deal will emerge leading to a hard Brexit or a new referendum will take place to reverse Brexit entirely.

Tensions in the U.S. and U.K. are different in many ways but they share commonalities of fractured politics and deep divisions on fundamental identities as either insular and nationalistic or more globally integrated and diverse. We got no revelatory insight in these conversations beyond a morbid sense that only grave and immediate crisis that cannot be ignored will jolt either nation into clarity. And maybe not even then.

Happy thoughts for your Friday!

Read more: How the U.S. and U.K. are partners in chaos - POLITICO

G7-Trump creates Chaos at G7 - as he calls for total barrier-free trade within the G7 and a return of Russia to the group

G7 Chaos: Merkel and Trump staring each other down

Despite imposing tariffs on major US allies, the anti-globalist president has called for free trade within the G7. He also insisted US allies would be forced to concede to US trade terms because the US "can't lose."

Trump, who railed against globalization in his election campaign, said he wanted all G7 nations to remove any tariffs, subsidies and other trade barriers.\

"You go tariff-free, you go barrier-free, you go subsidy-free," Trump opined, calling it "the ultimate thing." He said other world leaders reacted positively to the idea.

His economic adviser Larry Kudlow backed up the call, saying, "We’re going to clean up the international trade system."

But Trump's claims that he is in favor of global free trade would appear contradictory to his recent imposition of tariffs on US allies, much to their collective discontent.

Trump insisted US allies would yield to his demands of a trade rebalance, warning that the US would crush any opposition in a potential trade war.

"If they retaliate they're making a mistake …We win that war 1,000 times out of 1,000."

"They do so much more business with us than we do with them that we can't lose … When you’re down $375 billion you can't lose," he said, likely referring to the trade imbalance with China.

He said he could tell from the smiles of European leaders at the G7 that they knew that "the gig is up" and that they would negotiate terms with Washington.

Trump repeated his call for Russia to be allowed back into the alliance of world powers. It was kicked out of the G8 in 2014 for annexing Crimea from Ukraine.

"We're looking for peace in the world. We're not looking to play games."

"I think it would be good for Russia, I think it would be good for the US, I think it would be good for all of the countries of the current G7."

But when asked about returning to the G7 Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday that Moscow "never asked anyone to return" to the G7 and that Russia was happy working with the G20.
 
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Global disorder: Trump's Dangerous Neo-Isolationism - by Richard North Patterson

A leader ignorant of history misapprehends its tragedies. A president steeped in grandiosity risks repeating them. Such is Donald Trump. In modern history’s cardinal disaster, virulent nationalism combined with failed diplomacy and great power competition to ignite two catastrophic world wars within 25 years, in turn precipitating a nuclear arms race between America and the Soviet Union. In response, we encouraged democratic partners in Europe and Asia to join us in alliances like NATO, and global institutions like the United Nations and WTO.

This model promoted democracy, free trade and shared strategic and economic interests rather than unconstrained nationalism – and, while imperfect, gave us seven decades of relative stability.

Now the global order is under attack
.

Authoritarians squelch democracy. Populists scorn free trade. Resurgent nationalism and tribalism hamstring international cooperation. These threats come from all sides – including America’s president
.

Read more: Trump's Dangerous Neo-Isolationism | HuffPost

Turkey coup: Chaos continues in Turkey Live updates - by Lauren Said-Moorhouse

After a night of explosions, gunfire and tanks rolling along the streets, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Turkey Saturday that an attempted military coup was over and the government was in charge.

However, the sounds of fighting were still being reported in Ankara and Istanbul after the chaotic attempt by members of the military to wrest control from Erdogan.

At least 90 people died and 1,000 people were injured and hundreds arrested across the country.

Read more: Turkey coup: Live updates - CNN.com

Iran: Saudi Arabia severs Iran ties - intability on global oil market possible

Saudi Arabia on Sunday officially severed ties with Iran over the storming of the Saudi Embassy in Tehran, following the execution of Saudi Shiite cleric Nimr Al-Nimr. Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir told a news conferenc.

 Iran’s diplomatic mission and related entities in Saudi Arabia had been given 48 hours to leave. He said Riyadh would not allow Tehran to undermine the Kingdom’s security.

He added that all Saudi diplomats and staff have arrived in the UAE from Iran and are on their way to the Kingdom.

He called Tehran a regional menace for its smuggling of arms and explosives and its previous harboring of Al-Qaeda militants.

In Tehran, angry crowds hurled Molotov cocktails and stormed the Embassy. Fires were seen burning inside the building.

Read more: Saudi Arabia severs Iran ties | Arab News