May 20, 2022: Joe Biden’s got “99 problems,” but is Xi one?

In which, NATO does exactly what Putin didn’t want it to do, inflation does what Biden doesn’t want it to do, COVID does what none of us want it to do, and the global economy does China no favors.

NATO to Putin: Grow old with me

While the Russia war effort grinds on in Ukraine, NATO’s got a bit of bounce in its step as both Sweden and Finland announced applications to join the military alliance this week.

Given that one of Putin’s major reasons for invading Ukraine was to push back against NATO enlargement, the move by Moscow’s Scandinavian neighbors is deeply ironic. Putin’s Ukraine gambit is having exactly the opposite effect. Putin seemed to intend to keep NATO from expanding further, but that is not what’s happening here. 

The one hitch in the onboarding of Sweden and Finland is Turkey who has sought to derail the application process. As a NATO member, Turkey can certainly raise objections to the application, but given Ankara’s fraught relationship with NATO of late, it seems unlikely that this will permanently derail the applications. Indeed, America has already signaled that it plans to treat the applicants as full fledged members well before the ink is dry on the treaties.

Joe Biden’s got 99 problems…

It's hard to know how to report on the Biden administration week to week. With the midterms approaching the economic picture just getting worse (stocks still down - check; inflation still going up - check; gas at record highs - check; baby formula shortage - check; unemployment rising - check), and a spate of racially motivated shootings in Buffalo (white on black), Laguna Hills (Chinese on Taiwanese), and Texas (black on Asian), the Biden administration is going into campaign mode on the ropes on just about every front.

At least Covid is well… in ... hand. Kinda sorta, but cases are rising, and apparently we have to look out for monkeypox now too, apparently.

Bottom line, if you’re President Biden, there’s not much in the way of good news this week. Even the planned Disinformation Board in Homeland Security that caused such an outcry got iced.

On every front, domestically anyway, Biden and his party are struggling to get traction and notch wins; for themselves or the country. 

But is China one?

Perhaps the one glimmer of silver lining in the cloudy forecast for the Biden administration is that the economic storm clouds look nasty for China as well. President Xi Jinping hasn’t had a great May either as political upheaval in Sri Lanka may upset plans China has for power projection into the Indian Ocean, economic data indicates China’s ‘Zero COVID’ policy is doing more harm than good, and now China’s erstwhile ally North Korea is reeling from its own rapidly moving Covid epidemic. 

With Russia bogged down in Ukraine and North Korea tied down with Covid, China is also experiencing friction in its Pakistan relations. In other words, Xi’s got to be thinking: