I am and have been a student of foreign policy over the course of my life. Each generation has had its own view of, take on, and distillation of this subject. It has seen each generation leave its own stamp on the subject, sometime for the better, and sometimes not. Almost every derivation of the subject has seen some version of implementation, all with vary degrees of success.
I will say that American policy is at its best when it is based upon our guiding principles. And by that I do not mean the 'foreign policy that yields lower prices for Americans' formula. This formula leads Americans to believe they are the center of the world, and what is good for us, is also good for the rest of the world, which is patently false. I mean a foreign policy that is based upon the ideas and ideals upon which our nation was founded. Anything less than that is not leading with the values that drive American exceptionalism.
A foreign policy driven by the views that wrote "We hold these truths to be self-evident..." is what we need. We need to make clear that we as a nation are for human rights the world over. We need to make clear that we support all efforts for people suffering under tyranny to breathe free. We need to make clear our desire that all people have a chance to seek to redress their grievances fairly before their government, without fear for life and limb reprisals from said government. We need to establish firmly a foreign policy based solely on our desire to see despotic regimes to fade into history, and be cast upon the ask heap of failed government systems.
Our policy should be for freedom everywhere. We should be for freedom of speech everywhere. We should be for freedom of assembly everywhere. We should be for freedom of worship (or not) everywhere. We should be for participatory democratic forms the world over. We should insist that all governments be composed entirely of the will of the people across the globe, and that those governments be subject to that will at regular intervals.
This is likely to be a hazardous policy fraught with bumpy transitions and unforeseen challenges. However, in doing so we redeem the values that generation before us fought to establish. Only in doing so do we uphold the values that we claim to cling to. Only in doing so do we redeem the primal purpose for our founding. Only in doing so do we show ourselves to be a firmly committed country to the cause of liberty of all. Anything less is a waste of effort. Anything less is not worth being spoken, much less written down, enacted into law, and enforced.
I will say that American policy is at its best when it is based upon our guiding principles. And by that I do not mean the 'foreign policy that yields lower prices for Americans' formula. This formula leads Americans to believe they are the center of the world, and what is good for us, is also good for the rest of the world, which is patently false. I mean a foreign policy that is based upon the ideas and ideals upon which our nation was founded. Anything less than that is not leading with the values that drive American exceptionalism.
A foreign policy driven by the views that wrote "We hold these truths to be self-evident..." is what we need. We need to make clear that we as a nation are for human rights the world over. We need to make clear that we support all efforts for people suffering under tyranny to breathe free. We need to make clear our desire that all people have a chance to seek to redress their grievances fairly before their government, without fear for life and limb reprisals from said government. We need to establish firmly a foreign policy based solely on our desire to see despotic regimes to fade into history, and be cast upon the ask heap of failed government systems.
Our policy should be for freedom everywhere. We should be for freedom of speech everywhere. We should be for freedom of assembly everywhere. We should be for freedom of worship (or not) everywhere. We should be for participatory democratic forms the world over. We should insist that all governments be composed entirely of the will of the people across the globe, and that those governments be subject to that will at regular intervals.
This is likely to be a hazardous policy fraught with bumpy transitions and unforeseen challenges. However, in doing so we redeem the values that generation before us fought to establish. Only in doing so do we uphold the values that we claim to cling to. Only in doing so do we redeem the primal purpose for our founding. Only in doing so do we show ourselves to be a firmly committed country to the cause of liberty of all. Anything less is a waste of effort. Anything less is not worth being spoken, much less written down, enacted into law, and enforced.
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