{"id":57080,"date":"2020-06-29T14:58:29","date_gmt":"2020-06-29T04:58:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=57080"},"modified":"2020-06-29T14:58:29","modified_gmt":"2020-06-29T04:58:29","slug":"republican-plan-could-embed-destructive-us-foreign-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/republican-plan-could-embed-destructive-us-foreign-policy\/","title":{"rendered":"Republican plan could embed destructive US foreign policy"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

On 10 June, the Republican Study Committee<\/a>\u2014comprising 147 Republican Party members of the US House of Representatives\u2014released its national security strategy<\/a>. <\/em>The 120-page document, titled Strengthening America and countering global threats<\/em>, outlines a series of mainly punitive policy measures and, its authors claim<\/a>, \u2018offers 130 solutions to counter America\u2019s most aggressive global adversaries, including the toughest sanctions ever proposed by Congress against the Chinese Communist Party, Russia and the Putin regime, and Iran\u2019.<\/p>\n

The document doesn\u2019t represent formal US foreign policy, but it will have an influence on foreign policy under a Republican administration. It offers an insight into the world view of a significant number of conservatives in US politics and how they perceive their nation\u2019s ongoing role in global affairs.<\/p>\n

While the strategy is presented<\/a> as \u2018a blueprint for a stable 21st-century order, led by an independent United States and committed to peace\u2019, much of it is devoted to cataloguing new sanctions regimes and coercive strategies targeting America\u2019s adversaries and imposing Washington\u2019s will on the world.<\/p>\n

It runs through a litany of grievances relating to Chinese industrial espionage and intellectual property theft and outlines Beijing\u2019s intention to \u2018exploit the free and open rules based order and attempt to reshape the international system in its favor\u2019.<\/p>\n

In the section on Russia, the strategy proposes imposing further sanctions, enhancing support for NATO partners, and supporting the pro-democracy movement inside Russia. The focus on new sanctions will likely prove ineffective, and the plan to support the pro-democracy movement will likely see Moscow step up its own \u2018hybrid warfare\u2019 campaign against the US and the West.<\/p>\n

Many of the issues and transgressions identified in the strategy, particularly those associated with the actions of China and Russia, are legitimate. Nevertheless, almost no space is devoted to constructing collaborative processes or dispute-resolution frameworks\u2014so critical to managing emerging geopolitical challenges.<\/p>\n

The strategy does offer a roadmap for remaking the system of international institutions and identifies a number of significant problems with international organisations. But its proposal to defund a range of UN agencies\u2014including the UN Development Programme, the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs, the UN Human Settlements Programme, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change\u2014will likely create a void in the international institutional architecture.<\/p>\n

The strategy proposes establishing a community of democracies as an alternative to the UN in what appears to be a measure designed primarily to counter the influence of countries such as China and Russia in international organisations.<\/p>\n

The approach outlined in the strategy also explicitly undermines the State Department\u2019s role in the conduct of foreign policy. This department has already been significantly disempowered under President Donald Trump\u2014it lost around 12%<\/a> of its Foreign Service personnel during the Trump administration\u2019s first eight months and is likely to be hit with a further 8% cut to its Foreign Service budget<\/a> in 2021. The strategy goes even further, proposing that the department give up \u2018its control over aspects of foreign policy which are best done by other government agencies\u2019, with the Foreign Service to be replaced by \u2018a new diplomatic corps that hires to fill specific jobs and encourages a flow of personnel between the private sector and the Department of State\u2019.<\/p>\n

The impact of this plan on the US\u2019s ability to undertake constructive diplomacy may prove catastrophic. The perils of appointing candidates with no meaningful foreign policy experience to critical diplomatic roles has become apparent during the Trump administration, and direct links<\/a> have been drawn between the \u2018hollowing out\u2019 of the US Foreign Service and Washington\u2019s declining capacity to negotiate critical arms-control agreements. In this context, the proposal will likely do little more than hasten the already apparent decline in the US\u2019s diplomatic competence.<\/p>\n

One more curious element of the strategy is its ambition to maintain an \u2018international order based on American values\u2019. The strategy\u2019s authors see the US as \u2018the best force for good in the world\u2019 and declare that \u2018[the US\u2019s] strength creates more freedom, prosperity, and potential for people everywhere\u2019. In proclaiming this, the authors appear not only detached from the reality of contemporary US democracy but also wilfully ignorant of the trajectory of US global influence under Trump.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration\u2019s disastrous failure to respond coherently to both the Covid-19 pandemic and the events following the murder of George Floyd has exposed not only the chronic dysfunction at the state and federal levels of government\u2014some domestic commentators have categorised<\/a> the US as a failed state\u2014but also the deep fractures at the heart of US society. It\u2019s also clear that the very foundations of US democracy are under attack from within, with electoral integrity under threat<\/a> at all levels of US government.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, as argued<\/a> by journalist Anne Applebaum, the rank and file of the Republican Party are increasingly embracing an \u2018alternative value system\u2019 embodied by the Trump presidency. In the process, they are radically reshaping the American political landscape as a more arbitrary, authoritarian and unaccountable system that promotes vested interests and undermines the rule of law, targets the media, manipulates divisions for political gain and hijacks debate on public policy through the use of lies and misrepresentation.<\/p>\n

All of this will have a fundamental impact on the way the US acts globally and how it pursues its own foreign and strategic policy agenda. And, as noted<\/a> by Richard Haass, \u2018The example the United States sets at home and the image it projects abroad can either magnify American power or detract from it.\u2019<\/p>\n

The strategy defines the Republican Study Committee\u2019s view of the world and the US\u2019s place in it. It would also provide Washington with a catalogue of policy options that would arguably position the US as a pernicious and destabilising force in international affairs, repudiating its largely constructive legacy from the second half of the 20th century.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On 10 June, the Republican Study Committee\u2014comprising 147 Republican Party members of the US House of Representatives\u2014released its national security strategy. The 120-page document, titled Strengthening America and countering global threats, outlines a series of …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":624,"featured_media":57082,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1428,285,1491,31],"class_list":["post-57080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-donald-trump","tag-foreign-policy","tag-gop","tag-united-states"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nRepublican plan could embed destructive US foreign policy | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/republican-plan-could-embed-destructive-us-foreign-policy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Republican plan could embed destructive US foreign policy | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On 10 June, the Republican Study Committee\u2014comprising 147 Republican Party members of the US House of Representatives\u2014released its national security strategy. The 120-page document, titled Strengthening America and countering global threats, outlines a series of ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/republican-plan-could-embed-destructive-us-foreign-policy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-06-29T04:58:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/GettyImages-1194667970.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"702\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Connor Dilleen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Connor Dilleen\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\",\"name\":\"The Strategist\",\"description\":\"ASPI's analysis and commentary site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/republican-plan-could-embed-destructive-us-foreign-policy\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/GettyImages-1194667970.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/GettyImages-1194667970.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":702,\"caption\":\"WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 18: East Capitol Street is closed near the U.S. Capitol, on December 18, 2019 in Washington, DC. Later today the U.S. House of Representatives will vote on two articles of Impeachment against U.S. President Donald Trump charging him with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. (Photo by Mark Wilson\/Getty Images)\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/republican-plan-could-embed-destructive-us-foreign-policy\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/republican-plan-could-embed-destructive-us-foreign-policy\/\",\"name\":\"Republican plan could embed destructive US foreign policy | The Strategist\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/republican-plan-could-embed-destructive-us-foreign-policy\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-06-29T04:58:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-06-29T04:58:29+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/389dc67a01eecedea4275e45b49ee20a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/republican-plan-could-embed-destructive-us-foreign-policy\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/republican-plan-could-embed-destructive-us-foreign-policy\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/republican-plan-could-embed-destructive-us-foreign-policy\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Republican plan could embed destructive US foreign policy\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/389dc67a01eecedea4275e45b49ee20a\",\"name\":\"Connor Dilleen\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d2da14bc9a81b7a93e8c0fd7686bf355?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d2da14bc9a81b7a93e8c0fd7686bf355?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Connor Dilleen\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/connor-dilleen\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Republican plan could embed destructive US foreign policy | The Strategist","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/republican-plan-could-embed-destructive-us-foreign-policy\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Republican plan could embed destructive US foreign policy | The Strategist","og_description":"On 10 June, the Republican Study Committee\u2014comprising 147 Republican Party members of the US House of Representatives\u2014released its national security strategy. The 120-page document, titled Strengthening America and countering global threats, outlines a series of ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/republican-plan-could-embed-destructive-us-foreign-policy\/","og_site_name":"The Strategist","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org","article_published_time":"2020-06-29T04:58:29+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":702,"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/GettyImages-1194667970.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Connor Dilleen","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ASPI_org","twitter_site":"@ASPI_org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Connor Dilleen","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/","name":"The Strategist","description":"ASPI's analysis and commentary site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/republican-plan-could-embed-destructive-us-foreign-policy\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/GettyImages-1194667970.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/GettyImages-1194667970.jpg","width":1024,"height":702,"caption":"WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 18: East Capitol Street is closed near the U.S. Capitol, on December 18, 2019 in Washington, DC. Later today the U.S. House of Representatives will vote on two articles of Impeachment against U.S. President Donald Trump charging him with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. (Photo by Mark Wilson\/Getty Images)"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/republican-plan-could-embed-destructive-us-foreign-policy\/","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/republican-plan-could-embed-destructive-us-foreign-policy\/","name":"Republican plan could embed destructive US foreign policy | The Strategist","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/republican-plan-could-embed-destructive-us-foreign-policy\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2020-06-29T04:58:29+00:00","dateModified":"2020-06-29T04:58:29+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/389dc67a01eecedea4275e45b49ee20a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/republican-plan-could-embed-destructive-us-foreign-policy\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/republican-plan-could-embed-destructive-us-foreign-policy\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/republican-plan-could-embed-destructive-us-foreign-policy\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Republican plan could embed destructive US foreign policy"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/389dc67a01eecedea4275e45b49ee20a","name":"Connor Dilleen","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d2da14bc9a81b7a93e8c0fd7686bf355?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d2da14bc9a81b7a93e8c0fd7686bf355?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Connor Dilleen"},"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/connor-dilleen\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57080"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/624"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57080"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57080\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57086,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57080\/revisions\/57086"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}