Friday, January 19, 2018

Mike Gonzalez — How Donald Trump will Reverse Obama's Failed Foreign Policy Strategy

We do not look to bolster America’s adversaries overseas; we look to pressure, compete with, and outmaneuver them. For this reason, we should consider human rights as an important issue in regard to U.S. relations with China, Russia, North Korea and Iran. And this is not only because of moral concern for practices inside those countries. It is also because pressing those regimes on human rights is one way to impose costs, apply counter-pressure, and regain the initiative from them strategically....
Human rights violations by "our guys"? Meh.

How to get the reputation of being hypocritical about liberalism and trash soft power.

It's pretty obvious that these types could care less about humans rights as principles. To them everything is instrumental.
Stopping all our embassies from promoting a progressive agenda that often alienates the most conservative—and traditional pro-American—members of society will be harder, however. Often times such support involves official aid to foreign NGOs that also receive aid from George Soros’s progressive network that operates in 140 countries around the world....
The National Interest
How Donald Trump will Reverse Obama's Failed Foreign Policy Strategy
Mike Gonzalez | senior fellow in The Heritage Foundation’s Davis Institute for International Studies

9 comments:

Noah Way said...

What we are seeing here is competition between rival factions within the deep state. Trump is simply a diposable pawn in that game, attributing any real power to his role is erroneous at best and deceptive at worst.

Tom Hickey said...

What we are seeing here is competition between rival factions within the deep state. Trump is simply a diposable pawn in that game, attributing any real power to his role is erroneous at best and deceptive at worst.

Col. Lang disputes that based on his insider knowledge. In the end the president has to sign off and if he doesn't, the foreign policy establishment and military establishment won't buck him.

The question is what they have to hold over him. If anyone has anything to hold over DJT, it isn't the Russians.

Ryan Harris said...

Bilateral Deals vs policy ideological multilateralism... Hard to compare.

Ryan Harris said...

Trump appears to view previous agreements as ephemeral as representation of snapshots in time that must be periodically reexamined. A big change from the framework, hegemony crowd.

Noah Way said...

@ Tom

JFK wouldn't sign off on Pay of Pigs (bombing), follow through in Cuba (invasion), and ordered military advisors withdrawn from Vietnam. Three strikes, you're out.

The deep state owns Trump. Took them a while, but they've got a firm grip on him now. Domestic policy doesn't concern them too much. Foreign policy is Obama on steroids without the smiley face.

Tom Hickey said...

JFK didn't sign off on the Bay of Pigs?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay_of_Pigs_Invasion#Kennedy's_operational_approval

His sin was firing Dulles as CIA chief when the CIA inspector-general blamed the failure on the CIA.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay_of_Pigs_Invasion#C.I.A._report

In spite of vigorous rebuttals by CIA management of the findings, CIA Director Allen Dulles, CIA Deputy Director Charles Cabell, and Deputy Director for Plans Richard Bissell were all forced to resign by early 1962

Noah Way said...

Sorry, literal forum.

JFK didn't bomb and was blamed for the failure of the invasion.

The first air strike (8 CIA bombers launched from Nicaragua) failed and JFK canceled further strikes. Because the Cuban airfields weren't suppressed the Cuban air force decimated the invasion force.

Neither the CIA nor the Pentagon were happy with Kennedy and this got worse with the Cuban missile crisis when he wouldn't invade (a good thing, as the Soviets had quite a few tactical nukes in place). Then in October 1963 he ordered the withdrawal of military advisors form Vietnam.

Matt Franko said...

You guys find yourselves in full conspiracy theory mode again...

Noah Way said...

Did you ever stop to consider that the real conspiracy might just be to hide the truth?

Missing from the new JFK files: Batch of CIA records on Lee Harvey Oswald

https://www.salon.com/2017/09/10/missing-from-the-new-jfk-files-batch-of-cia-records-on-lee-harvey-oswald_partner/