Foreign Policy

Countering The ‘China Threat’ – At What Price?

June 26, 2021 Koohan Paik-Mander, Foreign Policy In Focus. Educate! China, Foreign Policy, US Imperialism, Wars and Militarism

In early June 2021, in a classified directive to Pentagon officials, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin slammed the former Trump administration for talking big but never taking action to counter “the China threat.” Austin made it clear that things would be different under President Biden. His “tough guy” rhetoric strikes just the right tone for a massive, costly, military-infrastructure overhaul that would render the conventional warfare of the twentieth century unrecognizable: more nukes, fewer troops, and an omnipotent 5G network. The goal of this overhaul is to give the United States and its allies the ability to summon, at once, unmanned military forces to rain terror down on any spot in the world—a swarm of drones, hypersonic missiles, submarine torpedoes, and bombers—all with the ease of calling an Uber.

Trust Lacking At Blah Summit

June 18, 2021 Ray McGovern, AntiWar.Com. Educate! Foreign Policy, Joe Biden, Russia, Vladimir Putin

Aside from establishing face-to-face contact between the the two presidents, the Biden-Putin summit today met only the most modest expectations of those hoping for improved ties between the U.S. and Russia. By the same token, weapons makers and others profiteering on tension with Russia, and living in fear of a thaw in bilateral relations, can now breathe a sigh of relief. Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov’s appearance on Russian TV early this morning, at which he dampened expectations, turned out to be a harbinger of things to come later in the day. Peskov said, "Clear signals had been sent to Moscow that the US would try to "restrain and pressure" Russia, adding that the constant talk about punishing Moscow "does not make the overall atmosphere any easier."

The Aimless Empire

June 5, 2021 Patrick Lawrence, Consortium News. Educate! Biden administration, Foreign Policy, US Empire, US Imperialism

Bitter and frightening realities face us four months into Joe Biden’s presidency. On the domestic side it is a Potemkin village, behind the façades of which lies a slum of unfulfilled promises that are no longer even part of the Washington discourse. That is the bitter part. The frightening part is this: Biden and the amateurs he has named as statesmen and stateswomen do not have an inconsistent foreign policy, or a miscalculated foreign policy, or a confused foreign policy. Such shortcomings and weaknesses might be repaired. This flummoxed bunch does not have a foreign policy. And the world’s most powerful, most heavily armed, most determinedly righteous nation shows little sign of figuring one out: Readers may perhaps join me in finding this very frightening.

Canada Should Release Meng Wanzhou

November 24, 2020 John Price and Margaret McGregor, Canadian Dimension. Create! Canada, Foreign Policy, Legal System, Meng Wan Zhou

The current hearings on the extradition of Meng Wanzhou are a tangled web of legal arguments that obscure a simple truth: the Canadian government is enabling a witch hunt on the part of a right-wing Trump administration against a Chinese capitalist rival—the telecommunications giant, Huawei. This is putting Canada in the crosshairs of the US and China, aligning us closer than ever to wayward American foreign policy, and jeopardizing the safety and security of all. We are adding our voices to the growing campaign to demand an end to the extradition process and release Meng.

How Biden Flubbed Town Hall Foreign Policy Question

October 20, 2020 By Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies, Popular Resistance. Educate! 2020 Elections, Foreign Policy, Joe Biden, Wars and Militarism

Toward the end of Joe Biden’s October 15 town hall session, a Trump supporter asked Biden the only foreign policy question of the night. “So peace is breaking out all over the world,” the questioner claimed. “Our troops are coming home. Serbia is talking to Kosovo. And the Arabs and Israelis are talking peace, which I believe is a modern-day miracle, what’s going on. Does President Trump’s foreign policy deserve some credit?” This question encapsulated all the smoke and mirrors that Trump has used to confuse the public and obscure his broken promises to end America’s wars, bring our troops home and build a more peaceful world.

Foreign Policy Of This Country Has To Reject US Exceptionalism

September 9, 2020 Janine Jackson, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. Create! Diplomacy, Foreign Policy, Human Rights, Wars and Militarism

Describing the Democratic presidential candidates after a debate back in January, our next guest noted that they had “talked some about what it means to be the commander-in-chief,” but not “enough about what it means to be the diplomat-in-chief.” The same might be said for corporate news media, whose assessment of presidential contenders gives foreign policy short shrift generally, and then, as we noticed in the debates, overwhelmingly frame international questions around military intervention. What’s missing from that truncated conversation, and what does it cost us in terms of global political possibilities?

The Policy Of Maximum Pressure Against Iran Has Failed

August 7, 2020 Reese Erlich, Foreign Correspondent. Educate! Foreign Policy, Iran, US Regime Change, Wars and Militarism

Depending on what policy the United States adopts after the elections, Sahimi expects “the response to come at a later time and in a manner and at locations where neither Israel nor the US would expect.” Biden has pledged, if elected, to reverse course on Iran. Izadi believes a Biden Administration would change the Trump policy of maximum pressure. “Whether doing it through rejoining the nuclear agreement or coming up with some other policies, we have to wait and see,” he says. Parsi, who is familiar with the views of Biden’s Iran advisors, says the new administration would likely call for “compliance for compliance.” “Biden could lift sanctions by executive order without rejoining the nuclear accord,” he says. “That’s a necessary step, but not sufficient.” The new administration will also have to work with Congress and lay the groundwork for restoring the nuclear accord. Despite the current crisis, Izadi says, “I’m optimistic. Trump’s policies are not working. The US will have to change, and the change will be for the best.”

Time To Rethink The US-ROK Alliance

July 5, 2020 By John Feffer, Foreign Policy In Focus. Educate! Donald Trump, Foreign Policy, North Korea, South Korea

Perhaps it’s time for South Korea, then, to assert more independence and become a master of its own fate. Above all, that will require a reconsideration of the military alliance with the United States. From a military point of view, South Korea doesn’t need the presence of U.S. troops on the peninsula. They serve a largely symbolic function as a concrete sign of U.S. commitment. At some point, after the resolution of ongoing negotiations, South Korea will assume full operational control of military forces. After years of arms imports, South Korea’s hardware advantage gives it a vast military superiority over the North. The United States has been an obstacle in the way of improving inter-Korean relations. And it has forced a partnership with Tokyo that Seoul finds uncomfortable. On top of that, South Korea periodically worries that it will be drawn into the conflict between Washington and Beijing.

On Contact: Colonial War On Palestine

May 3, 2020 Chris Hedges, RT. Resistance Report Colonialism, Foreign Policy, Israel, Palestine

On the show this week, Chris Hedges discusses the long, disingenuous role the USA has played in the Israel-Palestine conflict with Professor Rashid Khalidi. Rashid Khalidi is the Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University. His new book is ‘The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonial Conquest and Resistance.’

Creating The Enemies They Need: Militarism’s Strange Bedfellows

April 25, 2020 Danny Sjursen, Responsible Statecraft. Educate! Foreign Policy, Pentagon, Trump, Wars and Militarism

Listen to America’s imperial proconsuls long enough and they often let slip something approaching truth — perhaps exceptionalist confession is more accurate. Take Admiral Craig S. Faller, commander of U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), with responsibility for all of Latin America. Just before the COVID-19 crisis shifted into full gear, on March 11 he testified before the House Armed Services Committee and admitted, “There will be an increase in the U.S. military presence in the hemisphere later this year.” Naturally, admiral, but why? Well, if one can push past the standard, mindless military dialectics — i.e. “bad guys” — the admiral posits a ready justification: Russia and (most especially) China. With his early career molded in the last, triumphalist Reagan-era Cold War, Faller may be a true believer in new dichotomies that must feel like coming home for the 1983 Naval Academy graduate.

US Foreign Policy Is Becoming Unhinged

March 31, 2020 Moon of Alabama, Information Clearinghouse. Educate! Foreign Policy, Iran, Isolation, Trump

The Trump administration is reacting to the pandemic stress by lashing out at perceived internal and external enemies. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is leading the external onslaught. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has called for an "immediate global ceasefire" to focus on fighting Covid-19. He has appealed for the "waiving of sanctions that can undermine countries' capacity to respond to the pandemic." But Washington is not listening. Requests from Venezuela and Iran for emergency IMF loans to buy medical supplies were blocked by U.S. interventions. Just a month ago Pompeo announced an increase of sanctions against Iran. The sanctions block money transfers. They make it impossible for Iran to import the medical equipment it urgently needs to counter the epidemic.

The Decline Of International Law

February 4, 2020 Richard Falk. Educate! Foreign Policy, International Law, Wars and Militarism

There is widespread agreement that international law is experiencing a sharp decline in relevance when it comes to foreign policy, especially in the eye of the public. At first glance, this seems surprising. The digital age and economic globalization require more than ever a reliable regulatory framework to enable international transactions of many types. The growing complexity and networked style of international relations would lead most observers to anticipate an increased role for international law, and in many spheres of transnational activity, this has happened. In this respect, the public is somewhat misled when it generalizesits impression of decline to the whole of international.

American Muslims To Democrats: ‘Palestine Is A Foreign Policy Priority’

December 16, 2019 By Azad Essa, Middleeasteye.net Resist! Electoral Politics, Foreign Policy, Palestine

Activists and academics gathered in Chicago over the weekend for the 12th annual American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) convention, calling on American Muslims and the Democratic Party to prioritise Palestine as a foreign policy issue. Those present at the convention overwhelmingly expressed the view that if a Democrat is elected president in 2020, the momentum built in the last few years over issues impacting Palestinian self-determination needed to be carried into the White House. The conference, organised by AMP, a national, grassroots organisation focused on educating the public on political and cultural issues related to Palestine...

New US Oil Empire Built On Sand: Implications For The Economy & Foreign Policy

October 1, 2019 F. William Engdahl, Journal-neo.org Educate! Foreign Policy, Inter-Imperialist Rivalry, Oil

The idea of extracting oil or natural gas embedded in shale rocks has been known for years. However shale oil, or tight oil as it is known, first became economical with introduction of new horizontal drilling techniques combined with oil prices of $100 a barrel or more. This was about two decades ago. In hydraulic fracturing or fracking, oil embedded in shale rock thousands of feet down is injected with a high pressure mix of water, lots of it, mixed with chemicals and sand. The de facto sand blasting creates fissures where oil can flow into the oil pipeline.

Making Foreign Policy Part Of Election

October 1, 2019 By Yvesengler.com Resist! Electoral Politics, Foreign Policy

Canada’s contribution to the climate crisis, anti-Palestinian policies, support for an illegitimate Haitian president, interference in Venezuela’s affairs, NATO deployments and arms sales to Saudi Arabia are some of the foreign policy topics that should motivate how we vote. Activists with Disruption Network Canada are committed to raising these issues in the spirit of Greta Thunberg who eloquently told the politicians: “You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words.” If election campaigns are not the time to demand change from political leaders when is?

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