The US needs younger presidential candidates | World In :60 | GZERO Media

China's stance on ex-Soviet countries will not impact the war in Ukraine very much.

Ian Bremmer shares his insights on global politics this week on World In :60.

How will China's stance on ex-Soviet countries impact the war in Ukraine?

Not very much. I mean, this was China's ambassador to France saying that the
former Soviet republics do not have legal status as sovereign states. By the way,
that includes Russia. He clearly was over-exuberantly trying to say that Ukraine isn't
really a state. You can be more hawkish than the Chinese line if you're an
ambassador. You can't be more dovish, then you're in serious trouble, but this one
was pretty embarrassing, and the Chinese foreign ministry actually walked it back
pretty quickly. Still though, more interesting is the revealed preference that Xi
Jinping has gone quite a long time and still is not reaching out to call or meet with President Zelensky of Ukraine, even though he's very engaged with his bestie on
the global stage, Vladimir Putin. That says a lot more about where the peace plan
for China is than the statement by this ambassador to France.

With the US and others evacuating diplomats, will the West take action to end the
violence in Sudan?

Diplomatic action, yes, though they don't have a lot of influence on the ground in
Sudan. That's mostly Egypt, the UAE, the Africa Union. Frankly, it's the East Africa
Intergovernmental Organization or Agency for Development. They're the ones that
are most important right now in talking, particularly the Kenyan president, who has
some personal connection and pretty strong diplomatic capabilities with both sides
in Sudan. Also true for my good friend, the Secretary General of the UN, António
Guterres. He's doing his best as well. No one thinks that this is going to get resolved easily, because these two generals on the feuding sides, fighting sides, really do
hate each other, but fortunately, it's not a civil war. There's not an ideological break
here, and the population at large is not bound up in the fighting, and that's frankly
why it's 400 that are dead right now as opposed to 4,000 or 40,000. I hope that
stays the case. Also, a lot easier to get the diplomats out who are insecure
embassies than it is the population at large. A lot more civilians from the West in
Sudan across the country who are bunkering in at home and very much at risk than
the diplomats who are getting out.

Finally, should there be a maximum age limit for elected US officials?

Oh, I don't know. That's kind of a saucy question, right? Because between Trump
and Biden, who are the likely nominees, they're going to be 160 running for
president, and that's like 1.6 Kissingers. That's a lot. That's a lot of Kissingers, right?
So I don't know. I just kind of feel like they're both too old and yeah, Biden has
been, in my view, capable of being president. He's not dimwitted. I've met with him,
and he does stutter, and he's slowing down physically. Analytically, he's there, but
will he still be there for another five years? I think it's too old. Trump, I always
viewed as completely incapable and unfit for office back when he was a Democrat.
He certainly didn't change when he switched parties, but he's also too old. I want to
see some people in their forties and fifties, even sixties running for president. It's a
hard job. It's an enormous amount of energy, and these people are... I guess if
you're a woman, you can be a little older than if you're a man, because the life
expectancy is longer. So I'd probably shift it a little bit, give the women an extra
five, but still, it feels to me like Biden versus Trump is not saying great things about
America's democracy around the world, and frankly, a majority of Americans don't
want those two to be facing each other, but that's probably what we're going to get.
So there you have it. I'll talk to you soon.

#In60Seconds #China #Sudan

[jonbaker]

I love these quick, compendious accounts on the issues of the day- 5-10 minutes of an intense, bombardment of facts and analysis is simply superb!

[LumenMichaelOne]

Yeeah... You got it about right.

G'Job here Ian. G'Job-buddy... 👍

[danielm]

heh I liked Ian's 3:20 inversion of Don Lemon take

[luismanuel]

It's not about age, it's about politics. De Sanctis is much younger than Biden and yet his politics are terrible...

[comicbookmoney]

everyone who doesnt like Trump its more a personal thing, his politics and the job he did as president is never the talking point...

[eugenekramer]

The age of the presidential candidates is a reflection on the division of the country. People go for the safer options. Fill in the blank for your definition of safe.
After Joe finishes his 2nd term, he will be term limited. The other guy will be too old. So both parties will have to put up some new faces.

[deboraholmsted]

Studder, come on. He has done since he was a kid. Lost respect for your brilliance.

[lawrenceralph]

Perhaps a single good candidate would be enough, if they existed.

[harrykekgmail]

Agree 100% that USA presidents are too old

[johnlaudenslager]

Age cutoff at 50 at anticipated time of assuming office if win. More, faster turnover of politicians would help us civilians, because what politicians learn over the years about how the system works (how it can be gamed) benefits them much more than us.

[simple_beys]

3:19 what about trans women? Are they women too? Do they have a longer lifespan than a biological male?

[albertcscs]

Fine, if we have to have an 80 year old president, I vote for Bernie Sanders.

[montpelier]

Don't want it but that's what we're going to get. So hopeful. Not.

[borlach]

Yes, but they are all worse than the old fuddy duddies we have now.

[cfccfc]

The US needs younger presidential candidates...no worries...you'll get your wish in 2028.

[alansnyder]

I liked this video.

I think the entire primary process in the US Presidential Elections needs to be revamped. The primary process is what gives us bad candidates.

First, I would make both the Democratic and Republican primaries "open" and let everyone vote in both.
Second, we need ranked-choice voting. So people can rank the #1, #2, and #3 candidates.
Third, instead of going one state at a time (which just means the last states don't affect the outcome), I'd make it nationwide and done in multiple stages with the intent of culling the field at each stage. Say in the first round the bottom half of the candidates are cut, the same for the second round, and then finally in the third round, the #1 candidate wins.

My wish (and that all it is really) for doing it this way is to make the candidate of both parties more moderate and representative of the general population. Since it seems what we get now are candidates that are highly partisan and as a result, no compromises (even obvious ones) are made and as a result, problems like board control and immigration reform never get done.

[RPRosen-kifk]

I'm gonna disagree with you, Ian. I refuse to believe that a majority of Republicans are dumb enough to believe Trump would be good for the country or their party, AT LEAST ... not for a THIRD time.

[friedeswide]

‘East Africa intergovernmental agency for development’ lol. The Kenyan president has strong diplomatic links, the guy just got elected president two minutes ago. Try again with your Sudan analysis.

Ian, there should be some
Virtue in having deep experience, that in itself ought to be valued by voters and the political media as a huge asset in the presidency. We should be looking for Romney and people like him to run for office.

[lawrenceralph]

Everyday you bring us a bunch of concerns, almost none of them matter to the daily lives of Americans in the medium term. There's pattern here of not culling the wheat from the chaff.

[warrenjoseph]

Problem with any level of Government job is it’s all based on Seniority not competence. Private sector is Competence over Seniority. In Government and the Public Sector there’s this unwritten thing about “waiting your turn” and the entire machine is stocked with people at different levels having been made to wait their turn, so they despise and will shut down anyone who does not. A 1 term Senator like Obama was an almost impossibility.

I agree completely that it’s a high energy job and requires mental and physical acuity. With age comes wisdom and circumspection and experience however. I don’t think age limits are the answer as the electorate will decide on that if given a true choice. Problem is they’re not given that choice really. It’s more of a hold your nose and vote for the lesser of two wacky grandpas.

Maybe mandatory primaries (or a shorter version of a similar process) will force even incumbents to face down new faces with fresh ideas and energy to bring to the table.

As a liberal leaning centrist, I would love to see some of the brightest Democratic and Republican young minds (if they exist?) going up for the highest levels of national leadership.

The leadership now seems to have one foot in the grave, and the country as a result feels that way at times as well.