QOTD: Grifting As Diplomacy

 

A key graph from Anne Applebaum's article in The Atlantic "Empire of Grift," on how American diplomacy has been taken over by hustlers and self-interested businessmen, to our profound national detriment:

"Slowly, the Brazilians were learning the same lesson as other American allies around the world: The United States of America is no longer the entity they knew. And American power is no longer deployed solely by trained diplomats and reliable officials, working through state channels. Informal envoys, private companies, online grifters, and hardened ideologues both inside and outside the government matter more. Unlike their predecessors, these people do not talk about spreading democracy, and don’t want to build long-term relationships. They don’t care about America’s reputation. They are deploying the tools of American diplomacy and government for their own purposes, to promote their own business interests or their own ideological goals, because, suddenly, they can."

The entire article is excellent and well-researched.