Quote:
Originally Posted by SteveZ
...Foreign relations is all about parity and respect, not pandering and concessions...
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I don't know, Steve. I'd tend to say that
foreign relations is all about achieving the objectives that are set for this country.
I might go farther and say that our objectives shouldn't include any "feel good" stuff or policies designed to make us feel better without achieving much for the American public other than that. The "foreign policies" I'm talking about are those wherein the relationships we strike with other countries will benefit this country and our residents, moreso than any benefit that our policies might have that would improve or promote the lot of the residents of other sovereign nations, and certainly not any foreign policy actions which do nothing more than make any of our political leaders "look good"..
As mentioned in the Foreign Policy Agenda of the U.S. Department of State, our foreign policy is designed "to create a more secure, democratic, and prosperous world
for the benefit of the American people..." Some of the jurisdictional goals of our foreign policy include: "export controls, including nonproliferation of nuclear technology and nuclear hardware; measures to foster commercial intercourse with foreign nations and to safeguard American business abroad; international commodity agreements; international education; and protection of American citizens abroad."
What I'm saying is that the conduct of our foreign policy will be successful if the objectives noted above are accomplished. If they are, it makes little difference of how our leaders
appear on the world stage. What's far more important is what they accomplish. Specifically, if nothing of consequence to benefit the U.S. by our President blowing off the likes of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad or Hugo Chavez, I would take little satisfaction from that.
The name of the game is what our leadership can accomplish for our benefit in conducting our relationships with foreign countries and their leaders, nothing more or nothing less.