A Discourse on Laurel and Hardy Statecraft
I will devote the topic of this post to an article entitled Putin and Xi are the Laurel and Hardy of statesmen – but it’s no laughing matter published in The Guardian on August 13, 2023, written by Simon Tisdall. There is so much to unpack in this commentary. Mr. Tisdall brings to our attention a litany of misdeeds resulting from the hubris of two leaders of very powerful nations, namely President Vladimir Putin of the Federation Russia (Russia) and President Xi Jinping of the Peoples Republic of China (China); both strategic rivals in the view of policy makers in the United States of America (US or USA). These two men are likened, without the laughs to the Laurel and Hardy comic duo. The language used by Mr. Tisdall is full of mockery and if directed, in its harshness at lesser mortals would cause such pain that it could be classed as a form of aggression; a form of bullying that is libelous to the point of seeking legal redress. As a piece of misinformation, the commenta...