The 2020 Election and America’s Foreign Policy Crisis
Where is U.S. foreign policy headed under either a Donald Trump or Joe Biden presidency? Experts gathered virtually on October 27 to discuss this question and explore how the U.S. can move from a militarized foreign policy to one centered around diplomacy.
Stephen Wertheim, research scholar at the Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies and deputy director of research and policy at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, and Elizabeth Shackelford, a former U.S. diplomat, came together for “The 2020 Election and America’s Foreign Policy Crisis.” Richard Betts, SIPA’s Leo A. Shifrin Professor of War and Peace Studies, moderated the conversation, which was hosted by the student-run Progressive Security Working Group.
Wertheim, whose new book Tomorrow, the World critically examines U.S. global supremacy, said that despite high levels of political polarization, most Americans can agree on one thing: they want the troops to come home. People are realizing that the U.S. has enormous power, he said, but little purpose for that power.
“We need a public that understands the cost of a military-led foreign policy,” said Shackelford, who resigned from the State Department in 2017 in protest of the Trump administration’s lack of accountability. Without major changes, she said, even a Biden presidency would continue to have an oversized Pentagon budget and costly wars.
Betts asked Wertheim what would change if Biden becomes president. The starkest difference would be with Iran, Wertheim responded, where there is a major partisan divide. He expects Democrats to re-enter the Iran nuclear deal, and fears for possible war with Iran if Trump wins a second term.
On the topic of U.S. tensions with China, Wertheim said he is concerned about politicians describing China as our greatest threat. Instead, we should be cooperating with China on issues like the pandemic and global climate change.
Shackelford concurred: “We need to reevaluate what our greatest national security threats are,” she said.
Betts asked the panelists what country or region will be the most impacted by the outcome of the U.S. election. Shackelford envisioned potential changes to our relationship with Russia, while Wertheim reiterated the importance of Iran, adding that we could also see changes to U.S. relations with Saudi Arabia — like ending support for the war on Yemen. In addition, Wertheim said the Korean peninsula is key as Biden seems less interested than Trump in diplomacy with North Korea.
Shackelford added that under a Biden administration, we can expect a return to norms and enforcement of laws like the Hatch Act. Wertheim is looking out for the role of Congress in maintaining checks and balances.
For politics to be more responsive to the will of the people, Shackelford said, policymakers must examine the money that goes toward war and ask what else could be done with it — like investing in healthcare or education. In this she echoed Wertheim, who had noted earlier that while the military budget has long been immune from criticism, the U.S. public is becoming open to a different kind of foreign policy.
Event co-sponsors with the Progressive Security Working Group included the student groups Conflict Resolution Collective, Journal of International Affairs, and Columbia Public Policy Review.
The 2020 Election and America’s Foreign Policy Crisis
October 27
— Aastha Uprety MPA ‘21