Opinion: How to help your rivals and enemies

View in [Browser] | Add [nytdirect@nytimes.com] to your address book. Tuesday, January 31, 2017 [The New York Times] [NYTimes.com/Opinion »] [Opinion] Tuesday, January 31, 2017 The idea is a staple of game theory — and, for that matter, of poker, chess or football: If you think your opponent will welcome one of your moves, it's probably a mistake. So how do you think ISIS reacted to President Trump's executive order on immigration? And how do you think China's leaders, sitting in their offices in Beijing, have reacted to the initial flurry from the leadership of a country that they see as their biggest global rival? In just 10 days, the Trump administration has started needless fights around the world, damaged the country's image and taken a series of actions that undercut not just American values but American interests too. The realpolitik effects of those actions are the focus of [my column] today. The people with the most power to mitigate the damage, I argue, are the Republicans in Congress who see themselves as advocates of a strong United States. If they won't act, the outpouring of opposition that has happened over the last few days — in the United States and abroad; in airports, in corporate suites, in diplomatic cables and elsewhere — becomes all the more important. For much more on the subject of China, the U.S. and Trump, I encourage you to read two [recent] [pieces] by James Fallows in The Atlantic. The full Opinion report from The Times follows, including [Elizabeth Price Foley] on the Supreme Court, [the Editorial Board] on Steve Bannon, [David Brooks] on Republicans' Faustian deal with Trump, and an [Op-Docs film] on what it's like to jump off a pool's 10-meter platform. David Leonhardt Op-Ed Columnist  Editorial [President Bannon?] By THE EDITORIAL BOARD Donald Trump’s political adviser is consolidating power, with dismal results.  Op-Ed Columnist [President Trump at a retreat last week in Philadelphia for congressional Republicans.] [The Republican Fausts] By DAVID BROOKS They struck a deal with the devil, Donald Trump, that comes at too high a price. Op-Ed Columnist [Protesting against the immigration ban at the Supreme Court in Washington this week.] [The Abnormal Presidency of Donald Trump] By ROGER COHEN His immigration measures reflect a streak of gratuitous cruelty. Op-Ed Columnist [President Trump with the executive order withdrawing the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership.] [Make China Great Again] By DAVID LEONHARDT President Trump’s early actions are a strategic gift to America’s rivals and enemies.  ADVERTISEMENT  Op-Ed Contributor [Flowers at a makeshift memorial near the Islamic Cultural Center in Quebec City, Canada.] [The Bigotry That Armed the Quebec Mosque Attacker] By HAROON SIDDIQUI I always wanted to believe that Canada was immune to hate crime against Muslims. I’ve had to learn otherwise.  Editorial [Outside the State Department’s headquarters last week.] [Diplomats Decry Muslim Ban] By THE EDITORIAL BOARD More than 100 State Department employees are expected to sign a memo conveying their opposition to the travel ban. Editorial [People in Salem, Ore., protesting for women’s rights in solidarity with the march in Washington.] [Protecting Birth Control Access in Oregon] By THE EDITORIAL BOARD A bill in the Legislature would go beyond the Affordable Care Act and may serve as a model for other states.  Dandy/John J. Custer [Op-Ed Contributor] [To Defeat ISIS, Arm the Syrian Kurds] By ANTONY J. BLINKEN President Trump needs to make it clear to Turkey that the liberation of Raqqa from the Islamic State can’t wait.  Op-Ed Contributor [Clarence Thomas, right, at the inauguration.] [The Court Needs Another Clarence Thomas, Not a Scalia] By ELIZABETH PRICE FOLEY Nominate a jurist devoted to the Constitution’s original meaning. Op-Ed Contributor [Jihan Sheikh Mohammed, center, with some of her children at a refugee camp in Oraiokastro, Greece, in September. They fled from Syria.] [Abandoned by America] By BEN MCVANE How Trump’s executive order looks from a refugee camp in Greece. Vietnam ‘67 [Nurses with wounded American soldiers as they prepare to depart from Vietnam.] [Combat Nurses and Donut Dollies] By HEATHER STUR We remember Vietnam as a man’s war. But thousands of women served, too. Op-Ed Contributor [Talk is growing about a march for science on Washington, similar to the Women’s March.] [A Scientists’ March on Washington Is a Bad Idea] By ROBERT S. YOUNG It will only politicize science. Fixes [Protest signs left in Washington after the Women’s March.] [From Protests Past, Lessons in What Works] By TINA ROSENBERG The record-breaking turnout for the Women’s March leaves open a big question: What comes next? Op-Ed Contributor [Tourists in a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air on Havana’s seafront boulevard El Malecón in 2013.] [Trump, a Chevy and Cuba’s Uncertainty] By LEONARDO PADURA If President Trump revives the old American policy on Cuba, it’s the Cuban people who will suffer. Room for Debate [New Terms for Nafta?] If the Trump administration is going to renegotiate the North American trade deal, what should and shouldn’t be on the table? Op-Ed Contributor [Carme Forcadell, center, accompanied by Catalonian regional officials and supporters, arriving for court in Barcelona in December.] [Defending Freedom in Catalonia] By CARME FORCADELL The Spanish government is violating democratic principle by using the judiciary to try to stop our Parliament debating independence. Op-Docs [Ten Meter Tower] By MAXIMILIEN VAN AERTRYCK AND AXEL DANIELSON Would you jump? Or would you chicken out?  ADVERTISEMENT  Letters [Protesters at San Francisco International Airport on Saturday.] [Disorder and the Immigration Order] Readers discuss the ban on travelers from certain countries and how it was carried out. Letter [Invitation to a Dialogue: Being Muslim in America] A young Muslim woman describes feeling unwelcome in the country where she was born. Readers are invited to respond.  SIGN UP FOR NICHOLAS KRISTOF’S NEWSLETTER Receive exclusive commentary from [Nicholas Kristof] as well as his Thursday and Sunday columns. His work covers urgent matters of foreign and domestic policy, from global health to women’s rights, poverty to politics.  FOLLOW OPINION [Facebook] [FACEBOOK] [Twitter] [@nytopinion] [Pinterest] [Pinterest] Get more [NYTimes.com newsletters »] | Get unlimited access to NYTimes.com and our NYTimes apps for just $0.99. [Subscribe »] ABOUT THIS EMAIL You received this message because you signed up for NYTimes.com's Opinion Today newsletter. [Unsubscribe] | [Manage Subscriptions] | [Change Your Email] | [Privacy Policy] | [Contact] | [Advertise] Copyright 2017 The New York Times Company | 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018