6/30/2023

Dear Friend & POTUS, JRB,

            Did you see Wm J. Broad’s recent piece in the NYT, “The Terror of Threes in the Heavens and on Earth?” He claims that some intellectuals are employing Newton’s “three body problem” in analyzing our relations with China & Russia regarding nuclear weapons. It’s alarming.

            I wonder if folks like, Andrew F. Krepinevich Jr. (AFJJ), who use this theory to promote investments in the arms race, ever consult social science theories to consider triadic relations. If they did, they’d see that there are 18 different ways that 3 individuals in a network can relate to one another, assuming that in a triad each of the people has a relationship with each of the others which can be positive, negative or ambivalent. These dynamics can lead to balance, diffusion of stress or divide-&-conquer. If AFJJ did this analysis, he would see that we have an ambivalent relation with China & Russia with relations from trade being positive & those from politics/security being negative.

            I think this ambivalence is healthy for nations as well as friends. When we look closely enough at another person to see that of God in them, we will also see their darkness. In so doing, we develop a certain amount of ambivalence. We may be disappointed by their shortcomings from time to time, but we can choose not to dwell on them. Instead, we can choose to focus on their brilliance, to affirm it, to reflect it back & celebrate it. To prevent harm, rather than investing time & energy in self-protection, we keep lines of communication open.

            I suggest we employ that approach with China, Russia, North Korea, Saudi Arabia & every other nuclear power out there. This approach might work for MAL & the various EAOs in Burma, too.

            Have fun at Camp David this weekend,

BYBS,