The sad fact about Washington politics is that some of the most important issues facing the United States and the world are rarely discussed seriously. Nowhere is this more true than in the field of foreign policy. For decades, there has been a "bipartisan consensus" on foreign affairs.
Tragically, that consensus was almost always wrong. Whether it was the wars in Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq, the toppling of democratic governments around the world, or disastrous trade moves, such as entering the North American Free Trade Agreement and establishing permanent normal trade relations with China, the results often undermined the U.S. position in world, undermined the declared values of that country and were disastrous for the American working class.
This pattern continues today. After spending billions of dollars to support the Israeli military, the US, virtually alone in the world, defends the right-wing extremist government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which is waging a campaign of total war and destruction against the Palestinian people, which has caused the deaths of tens of thousands of people, including thousands of children, and the starvation of hundreds of thousands more in the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, as fear of the threat posed by China spreads and the military-industrial complex continues to expand, it is easy to see that the rhetoric and decisions of the leaders of both major parties are often driven not by respect for democracy or human rights, but by militarism, groupthink, and by the greed and power of corporate interests. As a result, the US is increasingly isolated not only from poorer countries in the developing world, but also from many of its longtime allies in the industrialized world.
Given these failures, it is high time for a fundamental reorientation of American foreign policy. This begins with acknowledging the failure of the bipartisan consensus after World War II and creating a new vision centered on human rights, multilateralism, and global solidarity.
Shameful performance
Since the days of the Cold War, politicians of both major parties have used fear and outright lies to drag the US into disastrous military conflicts abroad. Presidents Johnson and Nixon sent nearly three million Americans to Vietnam to support an anti-communist dictator in the civil war based on the so-called domino effect theory - the idea that if one country fell to communism, the surrounding countries would fall as well. That theory was wrong, and the war was a total fiasco. Up to three million Vietnamese were killed, as were 58.000 American soldiers.
The destruction of Vietnam was not enough for Nixon and his Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger. They expanded the war into Cambodia with a massive bombing campaign that killed hundreds of thousands of people and fueled the rise of dictator Pol Pot, whose genocide killed up to two million Cambodians. In the end, despite huge casualties and spending huge amounts of money, the US lost a war that should never have been fought. In the process, the country seriously damaged its credibility abroad and at home.
Washington's performance in the rest of the world was not much better during this era. In the name of fighting communism and the Soviet Union, the US government supported military coups in Iran, Guatemala, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Dominican Republic, Brazil, Chile and other countries. These interventions often favored authoritarian regimes that brutally oppressed their own people and exacerbated corruption, violence and poverty. Washington still faces the consequences of such interference today, facing deep suspicion and hostility in many of these countries, complicating US foreign policy and undermining American interests.
After spending billions of dollars to support Israel's military, the US is virtually alone in the world in defending the right-wing extremist government of Benjamin Netanyahu
A generation later, after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Washington repeated many of the same mistakes. President George W. Bush has committed nearly two million US troops and spent more than eight trillion dollars on the "global war on terror" and the disastrous wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The war in Iraq, like Vietnam, was based on a complete lie.
"We can't wait for irrefutable evidence that could be a mushroom cloud," Bush infamously warned. But there was no mushroom cloud and no irrefutable proof, because Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein had no weapons of mass destruction. The war was opposed by many US allies, and the unilateral approach of the Bush administration in the run-up to the war seriously undermined America's credibility and undermined confidence in Washington around the world. Despite this, supermajorities in both houses of Congress voted to authorize the 2003 invasion.
The war in Iraq was not an isolated case. In the name of the global war on terror, the US has carried out torture, illegal detention and "extraordinary renditions," kidnapping suspects around the world and holding them for long periods of time in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and in secret CIA "black sites" around the world. The US government implemented the Patriot Act, resulting in mass surveillance domestically and internationally. In two decades of fighting in Afghanistan, thousands of American soldiers have died or been wounded and hundreds of thousands of Afghan civilians have died. Today, despite all that suffering and expense, the Taliban are back in power.
Fees for hypocrisy
I wish I could say that the foreign policy establishment in Washington has learned its lesson after the failure of the Cold War and the global war on terror. But, with only a few notable exceptions, it is not. Despite an "America First" foreign policy pledge, President Donald Trump has increased unrestricted drone warfare around the world, sent more troops to the Middle East and Afghanistan, heightened tensions with China and North Korea, and nearly plunged into a disastrous war with Iran. He has showered weapons on some of the world's most dangerous tyrants - from the United Arab Emirates to Saudi Arabia. Although Trump's self-centered and corrupt style was new, it had its roots in decades of American politics that prioritized short-term, unilateral interests over long-term efforts to build a world order based on international law.
And Trump's militarism was not new at all. In the past decade alone, the US has been involved in military operations in Afghanistan, Cameroon, Egypt, Iraq, Kenya, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen. The US military maintains about 750 military bases in 80 countries and is increasing its presence abroad as Washington ratchets up tensions with Beijing. Meanwhile, the US is supplying Netanyahu's Israel with billions of dollars in military funding as it destroys Gaza.
US China policy is another example of a failed foreign policy based on groupthink, which presents the US-China relationship as a struggle where one side wins only if the other side loses.
Spending trillions of dollars on endless wars and defense contracts will not curb the existential threat of climate change or the likelihood of future pandemics. It will not feed hungry children, reduce hatred, educate the illiterate or heal the sick. It will not help create a global community and reduce the likelihood of war
For many in Washington, China is the new foreign policy bogeyman—an existential threat that justifies the Pentagon's ever-increasing budget. There is much to criticize about China: its theft of technology, suppression of workers' and media's rights, massive expansion of thermal power plants, repression in Tibet and Hong Kong, threatening behavior in Taiwan and criminal policies towards the Uyghurs. However, there is no solution to the existential threat of climate change without cooperation between China and the US, the two largest emitters of harmful gases in the world. Any confrontation with the next pandemic without the cooperation of the US and China is hopeless. And instead of getting into a trade war with China, Washington could create mutually beneficial trade deals that benefit workers in both countries — not just multinational corporations.
The US can and should hold China accountable for human rights abuses. However, Washington's concern for human rights is quite selective. Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy controlled by a family worth over a trillion dollars. There is not even a semblance of democracy there, citizens have no right to be dissatisfied or to choose their own leaders. Women were treated as second-class citizens. Gay rights are literally non-existent. Immigrant populations in Saudi Arabia are often forced into modern slavery, and there have recently been reports of mass killings of hundreds of migrants from Ethiopia by Saudi security forces. One of the few prominent dissidents from that country, Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed in the Saudi embassy, was dismembered and the parts of his body were taken out in a suitcase. US intelligence agencies concluded that the attack was ordered by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia.
Yet, despite all this, Washington continues to provide Saudi Arabia with weapons and support, as it does with Egypt, India, Israel, Pakistan and the UAE - also countries where human rights are violated.
People before profit
Modern American foreign policy has not always been short-sighted and destructive. After World War II, despite being the bloodiest in history, Washington decided to learn the lessons of the punitive treaties after World War I. Instead of humiliating wartime enemies Germany and Japan, who were in ruins, the US spearheaded a massive program of economic recovery and helped transform totalitarian societies into prosperous democracies.
If the goal of foreign policy is to create a peaceful and prosperous world, the foreign policy establishment should fundamentally reconsider its assumptions. Spending trillions of dollars on endless wars and defense contracts will not curb the existential threat of climate change or the likelihood of future pandemics. It will not feed hungry children, reduce hatred, educate the illiterate or heal the sick. It will not help create a global community and reduce the likelihood of war. At this crucial moment in human history, the US must lead a new global movement based on human solidarity and the needs of suffering people.
This movement must have the courage to confront the greed of the international oligarchy, in which a few thousand billionaires have enormous economic and political power.
Economic policy is foreign policy. As long as wealthy corporations and billionaires control our economic and political systems, foreign policy decisions will be driven by their material interests, not the interests of the vast majority of the world's population. This is why the US must address the moral and economic freak of unprecedented income and wealth inequality, in which the richest one percent of the planet owns more wealth than the other 99 percent—an inequality that allows some to own dozens of houses, private jets, and even entire islands, while millions of children starve or die from easily preventable diseases. Americans must lead the international community in eliminating tax havens that allow billionaires and large corporations to hide trillions and avoid paying taxes.
Many military suppliers see war primarily as a way to line their own pockets
Washington needs to create free trade agreements that benefit workers and the poor in all countries, not just investors on Wall Street. This includes creating strong, binding labor and environmental provisions with clear enforcement mechanisms, as well as removing investor protections that make it easier for them to fill jobs where they see fit. Those agreements must be negotiated with the participation of workers, the people, and the US Congress - instead of just lobbyists from large multinational corporations, who currently dominate the trade negotiation process.
The US must also reduce excessive military spending and demand that other countries do the same. In the midst of enormous environmental, economic and public health challenges, major countries cannot allow major arms manufacturers to earn record profits while providing the world with weapons of mutual destruction.
Like most Americans, I believe it is in the vital interest of the US and the international community to resist Vladimir Putin's illegal invasion of Ukraine.
However, many military suppliers see war primarily as a way to line their own pockets.
The RTX Corporation has increased the price of Stinger missiles seven times since 1991. Today, the US must pay $400 to replace each missile it sends to Ukraine - an outrageous price increase that cannot be explained by inflation, cost increases or quality improvements. Such greed not only costs American taxpayers, it also costs Ukrainian lives.
In the meantime, Washington should stop undermining international institutions when their actions are not in line with its short-term political interests. It is far better for the countries of the world to talk about their differences than to drop bombs or go to war. The US should support the UN by meeting its obligations, engaging directly in UN reform, and supporting UN bodies such as the Human Rights Council. The US should finally join the International Criminal Court instead of attacking it when it issues judgments that Washington finds inconvenient. President Joe Biden made the right decision by returning to the World Health Organization. Now the US needs to invest in the WHO, strengthen its ability to respond quickly to pandemics, and work with it to reach an international agreement on pandemics that prioritizes saving the lives of the poor and workers around the world - not the profits of big pharmaceutical companies.
Solidarity now
The benefits of such a change in foreign policy would outweigh the costs. More consistent US support for human rights would make bad actors more likely to face justice - and less likely to violate human rights in the first place. Increasing investment in economic development and civil society would lift millions of people out of poverty and strengthen democratic institutions.
Taxing the rich and curbing offshore capital would free up significant financial resources that could be used to meet global needs and help restore people's faith that democracies can deliver.
Most of all, as the most powerful democracy, the US must recognize that our greatest strength as a nation comes not from our wealth or our military power, but from our values of freedom and democracy. The greatest challenges of our time, from climate change to global pandemics, will require cooperation, solidarity and collective action, not militarism.
The article was published in the magazine "Foreign Affairs"
Prepared by: A.Š., NB
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