A Cautionary Tale: Trump and Biden, What’s to Choose
Adventures and misadventures of foreign policies.
by Frank Calzon
October 14, 2020, 12:00 AM
Due to the irrational impulses Donald Trump brought out in his opponents, a sensible, moderate, pragmatic record in foreign policy is in danger of being jettisoned simply because he initiated it. Yet the consequences of such knee-jerk rejection will be a return to past policies that demonstrably failed.
It is alleged that President Trump has destroyed European relations, which until he became president were based, conventional wisdom has it, on respectful dialogue among the NATO allies.
Like much conventional wisdom in foreign policy, this is a bit of a legend. There always have been tensions in NATO, which nevertheless saved Europe from total domination by Soviet imperialism. And it is worth noting that of all the recent tensions, the most grievous were those provoked by the previous administration, the Nobel Peace Prize granted to President Barack Obama early in the beginning of his term notwithstanding.
Donald Trump makes no claims to foreign policy expertise, but he put his finger on a fundamental question the pros tend to avoid: what increases American security? In the case of NATO, and the Atlantic Alliance more broadly, this means in practice: Are we — and our allies — increasing our chances of handing down free societies to our children, with an ever-wider acceptance of human rights and representative government? Or are we enabling our adversaries to sustain their own tyrannies and expand their influence through threats, intimidation, and military aggression? The Obama-Biden administration consistently created voids our enemies happily filled.
Trump’s detractors, experts all, should know better, for the policy of make-nice was tested during the Carter administration in the late 1970s, and again during the Obama–Biden administration, when Hillary Clinton was secretary of state. Are we to assume that a Biden–Harris administration means a return to the postulates of “leading from behind,†extending a hand of friendship to Iran, Cuba, and other hostile regimes, while either mishandling traditional alliances or denouncing friendly governments for behavior that is overlooked when the culprits are America’s enemies?
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https://spectator.org/trump-biden-nato/
