A Nation’s Word Should Mean Something

By JASON SIBERT

The great philosopher/journalist Walter Lippmann (1889-1974) once talked about the self-evident principle of all genuine foreign policy. The principle that foreign policy is truly made when commitments and power are brought into balance. Similar to the budgeting of a government entity, one has to bring revenue into balance with expenditure.

President Donald Trump is certainly not following Lippmann’s wisdom. Trump recently pulled out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, negotiated by President Barack Obama, without much attention to power or principle. Going back further in history, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1968 which committed our country to preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons and nuclear weapons technology. Four countries signed the 1960’s era treaty: the United States, Soviet Russia, China, and France. Currently, 191 states have entered into the fold.

The JCPA, amongst treaties signed by Nixon, Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, showed that we were a country that could work for the cause of nuclear disarmament in the spirit of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Trump, however, has us going in a different direction. In the JCPA we used our economic and diplomatic power to bring a potential nuclear arsenal in Iran under control. Given Iran’s behavior, supporting terrorist factions in Israel and engaging in a proxy war in Syria, controlling the country’s potential to develop a nuclear arsenal is an important thing. So important that our allies (Germany, France, and the UK) and our geopolitical competitors (China and Russia) joined with us in the deal.

In terms of using power, the JCPA used the image of our democratic nation-state to reach out to the pro-Western faction in Iran. Most of Iran’s population was born after 1979 and they want their country to open up to the outside world and thus move away from the theocratic form of government. Trade, which the JCPA promoted, and cooperation with the West on the subject of nuclear proliferation tells the pro-Western faction in Iran that they can negotiate with the United States and the West on those subjects. Standing for pro-Western values is something our government should do on principle.

The hardline, fundamentalist faction in Iran has been against the JCPA from the beginning and celebrated when Trump left it. Naturally, it doesn’t want Iran to become a more moderate state, as the faction benefits from a less international-looking Iran. Trump’s decision strengthens the hardline position. However, there are other ramifications. Leaving the treaty also tells our allies and geo-political foes that we are not a country that they can do business with and that we are a country that doesn’t have an interest in establishing international norms and laws.

The ideal scenario would be for us to stand for the principle of Western values and a more peaceful world and back it up with our power. However, Trump did the opposite. Why is the Iran deal of interest to the progressive populist? The less order there is in the world the more individual nation-states look at each other with suspicion and suspicion leads to higher security costs, as countries spend more on defense and engage in a power balancing game.

A more dangerous international climate is building and at the same time our country is trying to cope with the issue of millions living in poverty. Poverty related issues such as the millions without health insurance, affordable housing, homeless populations in cities, and a group of service workers who are earning less than a living wage are grabbing headlines. If we continue to increase our security costs, there will be a lack of attention to internal security and millions will suffer!

Jason Sibert worked for the Suburban Journals in the St. Louis area for over a decade and is currently executive director of the Peace Economy Project in St. Louis, Mo. Email jasonsibert@hotmail.com.

From The Progressive Populist, July 1-15, 2018

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