It is said experience is what you get just after you most needed it. James Mattis, now gone from Donald Trump's administration, is a man who stood above all others in the hard-earned military qualities that the US president likes to talk about, but has never personally attained.
Mr Mattis is no ordinary general. A bachelor who earned the nickname “Mad Dog" during his service and, latterly, the “Warrior Monk” for his devotion to the armed forces, the 68-year-old Marine's exit from the Pentagon is not the retirement that President Trump pretended it was on Friday.
No. Mr Mattis quit in disgust at the lack of regard that the US president has for those who serve him. The timing of his exit – 24 hours after Mr Trump announced that American troops would exit Syria – is no coincidence. Having cautioned the president that American supremacy is an ideal that demands the defence of ancient alliances, tested for the first time in a generation by the unilateralism of a US foreign policy that shreds the global order and appeases Russia, Mr Mattis decided to walk.
Such is Mr Trump's credo. For all the warm words about his departing secretary of defence, the judgment is clear. One man's experience was not reconcilable with the president's undeclared priorities.
Mr Trump, after almost two years in the White House, is a president for whom the traditional world order seems to matter little, yet it was that ideal he invoked when shepherding Mr Mattis out of the door of government.
Mr Mattis is a sombre character. He is unlikely to go on the attack against the Trump administration, despite his frustrations at being ignored over foreign and defence policy over Syria, Iraq and other Middle Eastern theatres. At this point it should be recorded that it was Russia that Mr Mattis repeatedly invoked as the greatest threat to American interests. China was not far behind.
Mr Mattis now joins the disenfranchised ranks of fired and retired officials such as former secretary of state Rex Tillerson and White House chief of staff John Kelly, who departed only two weeks ago.
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The warm words offered about Mr Mattis by Mr Trump a day after Russia rejoiced at the imminent exit of 2,000 American troops from Syria are as incongruous as the Trump administration itself: a decorated US general exits the stage while a Russian president delights at an American retreat.
Such an outcome is unlikely to sit well with a Marine whose exit letter is anything but a resignation.
"One core belief I have always held is that our strength as a nation is inextricably linked to the strength of our unique and comprehensive system of alliances and partnerships. While the US remains the indispensable nation in the free world, we cannot protect our interests or serve that role effectively without maintaining strong alliances and showing respect to those allies," he wrote, noting the Mr Trump would therefore require a different defence secretary from him, given the difference in their views.
In that paragraph Mr Mattis summed up, albeit belatedly, his disagreement with the “America First” policy of the US president, which has caused repeated clashes with allies such as Britain, France and Germany. Whether it be the Paris Climate Accord or the Iran nuclear deal, Mr Trump has disregarded the views of allies. He has also rejected the post-Second World War compact that Reupublican and Democratic presidents have relied on for 70 years.
With the resignation of a patriot as resolute as James Mattis, it appears that Mr Trump is losing not only the generals he once championed but also the experience that everyone knows he lacks.
MATCH INFO
Qalandars 109-3 (10ovs)
Salt 30, Malan 24, Trego 23, Jayasuriya 2-14
Bangla Tigers (9.4ovs)
Fletcher 52, Rossouw 31
Bangla Tigers win by six wickets
Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
Champions parade (UAE timings)
7pm Gates open
8pm Deansgate stage showing starts
9pm Parade starts at Manchester Cathedral
9.45pm Parade ends at Peter Street
10pm City players on stage
11pm event ends
Our House, Louise Candlish,
Simon & Schuster
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20SAMSUNG%20GALAXY%20Z%20FOLD%204
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Brolliology: A History of the Umbrella in Life and Literature
By Marion Rankine
Melville House
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
MATCH INFO
Azerbaijan 0
Wales 2 (Moore 10', Wilson 34')
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
- The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
- The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
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