Posted by
Bert Chapman on Thursday, January 03, 2008 2:51:39 PM
As Democratic and Republican voters troop to the Iowa caucuses on this bitterly cold January night, there has been much discussion of whether presidential aspirants from both parties have the proper foreign policy experience to assume the presidency. What is meant by "proper foreign policy experience" is highly elusive. Should presidential candidates actually serve in the State Department's foreign service? Should they have served as a political appointee in a U.S. Government foreign policymaking agency? Should they be a member of Congress with service on a foreign relations committee? Does it mean they should work at a think tank in Washington, DC or elsewhere where they specialized in foreign policy research? Should they serve with the United Nations or other international government organizations or non-government organizations such as World Vision, Amnesty International, etc. whose work includes significant global components? On a humorous note, should they have attended a cocktail party at a foreign embassy in Washington, DC?
Such discussion illustrates the triviality of much political discussion of foreign policy in this country and probably other countries as well. Experiences of the kind listed above are useful for presidents but hardly essential. A President should probably avoid paying to much attention to the advice offered by many State Department foreign service personnel, because many of these individuals tend to forget that they are representing the United States and become excessively acculturated to the prejudices and beliefs of elites in the countries they serve in a process known as "going native."
Here are some principles of foreign policy experience I think would be U.S. Presidents should have. The first is a firm and unflincing moral conviction that the U.S. is the greatest nation in history and a force for good in world affairs. A second principle is that the U.S. must be willing to assertively promote its international interests by all means necessary including economic and technical assistance, diplomatic, and military force and that it should do so without hesitation or regret. Thirdly, this individual must recognize the intrinsic sinfulness of humanity and reject utopian schemes for dealing with human issues such as the nonsensical ideas that using military force to resolve foreign policy differences is improper without United Nations authorization and the imbecilic belief that the sovereign nation state is obsolete. All U.S. Presidents must be willing to use military force in defense of vital national interests even if international opinion howls like a bunch of outraged hyenas.
The President must continually educate American and international public opinion in this reality because it is natural for people to live in their own immediate physical environments and not be attentive to trends in the broader world and be aware of historical forces and trends affecting our world. Consequently, it is incumbent upon presidential aspirants to recognize that a strong and combat ready military is absolutely essential for the U.S. to have an effective foreign policy. Believing in the good will of international public opinion or adhering to utopian beliefs that international human values or some other vapid secularist euphemism will carry the day is a recipe for perpetual disappointment.
Having a good understanding of other countries political, cultural, religious, and military histories is essential. Presidential aspirants should be reasonably well read and informed in these topics with works and briefings representing divergent perspectives. An intense desire to increase one's knowledge of other countries and transnational organizations is also a desirable presidential foreign policy prerequisite. A President should be aware of the subtleties involved in the diplomatic and cultural evolution of other countries while admitting the shortcomings of our own country in limited circumstances.
What ultimately matters is that the President have a sound understanding of the historical, contemporary, and emerging factors facing the international community and be willing to assertively defend U.S. national interests if those trends become inimical to U.S. national interests. That is the kind of foreign policy experience U.S. Presidents need far more than going to a particular school or prior political or governmental experience.