The Serious Foreign Policy Thread--Bolton Cleans House

[Dill]

(03-14-2018, 10:39 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: Foreign policy isn't my policy realm. I like to learn about it and I have friends in State, but I can't speak on diplomatic issues like I can domestic policies. That being said, what concerns me with Trump's approach (as Lucie put it, chaos and competition) is that it approaches these issues with a zero sum attitude. A zero sum attitude is not helpful when looking at policy, whether it is foreign or domestic, except for very specific circumstances.

When I listen to those with experience in the realm of foreign policy talk about Trump, the consensus is that he just does not understand foreign relations or that he does but does not care because of his nationalistic attitudes. We are no longer viewed as the world's leader by our allies (based on latest Pew results of their yearly survey on this), and that is a direct result of the foreign policy enacted by this administration.

A strong Secretary of State could have helped offset Trump's lack of knowledge in the field, but that isn't what we had and it isn't what he has nominated to replace Tillerson. Pompeo will likely continue the trend of gutting the State Department in favor of more nationalistic policies.

Your aforementioned consensus jives with the consensus of my knowledgeable friends, and also what I am reading of foreign policy experts.

Further, Trump has considered (John Bolton) or actually picked (Sebastian Gorka, Carter Page, George Papadopolous) fringe characters in the foreign policy scene to advise him--people no one else would consider for serious positions. He pushes away knowledgeable people and is drawn to crackpots.

I agree with your point about a knowledgeable secretary of state, but had he chosen one, they would have locked horns frequently. People who want to work in his cabinet, his white house, ultimately have to kow tow to his uninformed opinion, accept the implementation of policies that may have been suggested that morning on Fox News. This is very hard for people who see the long term effects of undoing policies which have been in place for decades and which have defined our relation to both allies and adversaries.

One of my reasons for starting this thread is to get people thinking about the consequences of White House chaos for foreign policy, to consider for a moment how all this looks from the "outside" so to speak. The chaos creates opportunities for bad actors. It creates risks for our allies--especially South Korea. 

I fear that one reason Trump was elected was that our foreign policy has by and large been successful--with the exception of W.--over the last 40 years, so people assume that peace and economic prosperity is just natural, not the work of knowledgeable people constantly maintaining our foreign relations. They assume Trump can't do much damage.  But he can.