Patrick Lawrence
Menu
  • Biography
  • Books
  • Q&A’s
  • Archives
    • The Nation.
    • Salon
    • Alternet
    • Asia Times
    • Consortium News
    • CounterPunch
    • Raritan
    • ScheerPost
    • The Fiscal Times
    • The Floutist
    • The Scrum
    • The Washington Quarterly
    • Elsewhere
  • Journal
  • Appearances
  • The Mail
Browse: Home » Tillerson
There Are More Important Questions to Ask Than Whether Rex Tillerson Is In or Out at State

There Are More Important Questions to Ask Than Whether Rex Tillerson Is In or Out at State

December 7, 2017 · by Patrick Lawrence · in Articles, The Nation.

A renovated foreign policy rests on a great variety of factors beyond a house-cleaning at State. As so often with the Trump administration, one cannot tell what is what as to the future of Rex Tillerson. The secretary of state…

Trump’s in a Corner With China. Here’s How He Can Get Out

Trump’s in a Corner With China. Here’s How He Can Get Out

June 30, 2017 · by Patrick Smith · in Articles, The Fiscal Times

President Trump has a China problem: He doesn’t know how to manage the single most important relationship the U.S. has. While Trump still boasts of his good personal relations with Chinese President Xi Jinping, he still does not have a…

Trump Does Have Real Connections to Russia—and Here’s Why

Trump Does Have Real Connections to Russia—and Here’s Why

May 12, 2017 · by Patrick Smith · in Articles, The Fiscal Times

When President Trump handed foreign policy over to his generals a few weeks ago, his plans for a new détente with Russia were dead in the water, and Secretary of State Tillerson was more or less out of the picture….

With Iran in His Crosshairs, Trump Has One Risky Chip to Play

With Iran in His Crosshairs, Trump Has One Risky Chip to Play

April 21, 2017 · by Patrick Smith · in Articles, The Fiscal Times

This PDF document is the original version, as filed, of the column posted on April 20. Looks like Iran is next on the list of foreign-policy bad guys Team Trump has in its crosshairs. In an assertive statement Wednesday, Secretary…

Trump’s ‘Tough Guy’ Foreign Policy Falls Flat with Russia and China

Trump’s ‘Tough Guy’ Foreign Policy Falls Flat with Russia and China

April 14, 2017 · by Patrick Smith · in Articles, The Fiscal Times

Now that Russia and China have jumped to the top of Donald Trump’s foreign policy agenda, how’s the president doing with Washington’s two most important relationships outside the Atlantic alliance? The crises in Syria and North Korea have suddenly complicated…

Tillerson’s Asia Trip Could Signal the End US Soft Diplomacy

Tillerson’s Asia Trip Could Signal the End US Soft Diplomacy

March 17, 2017 · by Patrick Smith · in Articles, The Fiscal Times

It was clear as soon as Rex Tillerson arrived in Tokyo late Wednesday that the new secretary of state’s first trip to Asia could turn out to be a mission impossible. In a six-day tour of three nations, the unproven…

Search

Recent Pieces

  • PATRICK LAWRENCE: History Turned in Beijing May 18, 2026
  • “For Trump, it’s Israel über alles now.” May 18, 2026
  • “Dignity in a West Bank refugee camp.” May 16, 2026
  • PATRICK LAWRENCE: Epic Desperation May 12, 2026
  • “When democracy fails: Reports from the West Bank.” May 7, 2026

Recent Comments

  • Susan Steffner on “Iran as ‘the evil one.’”
  • Mao Cheng Ji on “Europe’s latest intelligence fakes.”
  • Khan Malden on “Death to the genocide machine.”
  • Mark Miller on “Report from Donbas.”
  • Tom Jackson on PATRICK LAWRENCE: Musk & the Myth of USAID

Archives

About Patrick Lawrence

Writer, commentator, longtime newspaper and magazine correspondent abroad. Writes often on Europe and Asia. Published five books.

Connect

Please feel free to Contact me to arrange lectures, commissions, or reprint rights, or simply as a reader.




Sustain the work via Patreon.

Become a Patron


You can also follow me on Twitter.

Follow @thefloutist

Recent pieces

  • PATRICK LAWRENCE: History Turned in Beijing May 18, 2026
  • “For Trump, it’s Israel über alles now.” May 18, 2026
  • “Dignity in a West Bank refugee camp.” May 16, 2026

Publications

  • Appearances
  • Articles
    • Alternet
    • Asia Times
    • Consortium News
    • CounterPunch
    • Elsewhere
    • Independent
    • Raritan
    • Salon
    • ScheerPost
    • The Fiscal Times
    • The Floutist
    • The Nation.
    • The Scrum
    • The Washington Quarterly
  • Cú Chulainn
  • Featured
  • Uncategorized
​​This site is published in honor of Sheila and the late Chalmers Johnson.

Copyright © 2026 Patrick Lawrence. Designed by Blue Anchor Design.