Effects of Trump calling Pakistan enemy of civilization, India to take charge

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This isn't happening in vacuum, people. It's quite clear for some time that the old Cold War alignment of India and Pakistan have been shifting. Many, many events over the past eight years - the US military's (plus close US allies like Japan and Australia's militaries) increased affiliation with India (naval exercises and the like), the acceptance of India into the us nuclear pact, the Chinese economic courting of Pakistan; makes it clear if the world is splintering into a blocs that India has chosen the US, and Pakistan China. It's a marriage of convinience on all parties sake - the US wants to use India as an easy way to control the valuable checkpoints in the Indian Ocean and South China Sea, striking at China's soft underbelly, China wants an increased access to Indian Ocean ports in Baluchistan without needing to rely on going through the Straits of Malacca, Pakistan wants a capital-heavy patron with fewer scruples about human rights and isn't constantly at loggerheads with it in Afghanistan (and that isn't droning their northern provinces) and India wants the patronage of an extremely powerful superpower that they don't currently have a border crisis with (as India does with China). This has been the case for a while, to the extent that all other states in the region (the Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Bangladesh) are drawn into the cat and mouse game between china and the us.

The one thing you can say about Trump (same with the whole NATO two percent thing) is he definitely can absorb an increasingly popular foreign policy idea and adopt it enthusiastically, especially if it aligns with the idea that the US is being taken for a ride by freeloaders. It's not a hugely subtle approach, but the most charitable approach to Trump's diplomacy is that it's a sort of Breaking The Gordian Knot approach.

But really, the trump presidency is more proof that foreign policy largely marches on irrespective of the presidency, especially if the incumbent is weak and ignorant. Which is rather alarming, all things considered.

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The real worrying aspect of this is that Trump has no ability to critically examine the proposals of anybody in uniform (or anybody who uses smarty smart words, but that's another matter). Which is very alarming - if you look at the history of the Cold War, even the most warhungry politicians often had to restrain and put leashes on their generals. But now Trump - with full complicity from the opposition and media, who view Mattis, Kelly and McMaster as the same men in the room - has put the military in full charge. The rules and regulations ("that [prevent] the secretary of defense and commanders in the field from fully and swiftly waging battle against the enemy” in trump's words) that Obama were placed for a reason - because the hands off approach had previously led to Tommy Franks et al blundering and various military atrocities (we are seeing this now in the increasing civilian death count in the anti-ISIS strikes). Let's hope there are no LeMay/McArthur types at the moment that have the president's ear.

Trump's adoration of the military is sinister. It's ironic that it's Pakistan being targeted, as if there is a major flaw of that nation from the beginning it's the fact that the military is venerated and politicians cower to them. The cynicism of politicians and uncritical admiration of military figures (and other uniformed forces) by the establishment (including Trump) is a recipe for usurpation of civilian power by such forces, presented as for the public's own good.