Saudi Arabia calls for equitable climate financing at UNHRC    NCM Forecast: Dust storms expected across Saudi Arabia until next week    SR200,000 fine for Saudi and Egyptian in cover-up case    PIF assets soar to $1.15 trillion in 2024    Saudi Arabia advances 14 places to 13th rank in IPR Enforcement Index globally    Hundreds of families displaced by wave of Israeli air strikes on Gaza, witnesses say    Republican Senator Thom Tillis to leave Congress after clash with Trump    Car bomb attack in Pakistan kills at least 13 soldiers    One of Hong Kong's last major pro-democracy parties disbands    Saudi Arabia imposes final anti-dumping duties on imports of steel pipes from China and Taiwan    Iranian Army Chief calls Saudi Defense Minister to discuss regional stability    Saudi Arabia's net FDI jumps 44% to SR22 billion in Q1 2025    Historic Jeddah's visual identity re-imagined through global art installations at Al-Arbaeen Lagoon    Saudi Arabia exit Gold Cup after quarterfinal defeat to Mexico    Al Hilal land in Orlando ahead of Club World Cup clash with Manchester City    Cristiano Ronaldo says the past is over and this season will be Al Nassr's    Al Hilal suffer injury blows ahead of Club World Cup match with Manchester City    Brad Pitt's Los Angeles home 'ransacked', police say    Tehran Symphony Orchestra holds free concert to honor Iranians killed in conflict with Israel    49% of Saudi internet users spend 7 hours a day online    Sholay: Bollywood epic roars back to big screen after 50 years with new ending    Ministry launches online booking for slaughterhouses on eve of Eid Al-Adha    Shah Rukh Khan makes Met Gala debut in Sabyasachi    Pakistani star's Bollywood return excites fans and riles far right    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Hillary Clinton's foreign policy problem
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 13 - 06 - 2016

This week, Hillary Clinton made history by becoming the first female nominee for president of a major American political party. In doing so, she fended off a serious threat from Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, a self-proclaimed socialist who has become a titanic force in the Democratic Party.
Sanders has challenged Democratic orthodoxy on free trade, Middle East policy and the scope of executive power to conduct unlimited military campaigns under the auspices of the war against terrorism. In doing so he has exposed one of Clinton's greatest vulnerabilities in a general election: Her judgment when conducting foreign affairs.
Clinton's record as a military hawk is well-known. She voted for the Iraq War as a senator. As secretary of state, she pushed for US intervention in Libya and lobbied President Obama to take military action against Bashar Assad in Syria. She was lukewarm about the nuclear deal with Iran. With respect to Israel, in March she gave a major policy speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) without so much as mentioning the plight of the Palestinians — a point later highlighted by Sanders, a son of Jewish immigrants, during their debate in Brooklyn.
Progressives, independents and liberal democrats who have been voting in large numbers for Sanders hold the keys for Clinton to defeat Donald Trump. If Clinton is to consolidate her support among these important constituencies, she must reassure them that despite her record, she is willing to follow in President Obama's footsteps and not seek military solutions to every vexing foreign policy problem.
To be sure, Clinton's hawkish instincts fall within the mainstream of the foreign policy establishment. Yet in this election year she faces two problems. First, in the past two national elections, the Democratic base has embraced President Obama's foreign policy doctrine, loosely defined as emphasizing negotiation and collaboration rather than confrontation and unilateralism. Sanders has projected a similar view of the United States' role in the world.
Second, Clinton's opponent in the general election, Donald Trump, has consistently conveyed a message that America is taking on too much of a burden in providing global security for its allies and not receiving enough of the commercial benefit. This argument has gained traction in a Republican Party that increasingly sees endless military campaigns in the Middle East as a drain on American blood and treasure. Thus, Clinton's reliance on hard power as a means of advancing American interests is a tough sell in an election year where voters seem to prefer retrenchment rather than military adventurism.
Rather than embrace President Obama's foreign policy of military restraint, Clinton signaled in a major foreign policy address last week that she would be doubling down on the conflict in Syria by imposing a no-fly zone — something the Obama administration has ruled out for fear of deepening America's involvement in the Syrian civil war and risking escalation with Russia and Iran, the Assad government's main patrons.
Furthermore, Clinton has proclaimed that she would reaffirm her "unbreakable bond" with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Fidelity to Israel's security is a staple of all presidential campaigns, but Clinton has gone on record embracing an Israeli prime minister who repeatedly embarrassed President Obama, tried to torpedo his signature foreign policy achievement — the Iran nuclear deal — and paid only lip service to the peace process with Palestinians.
Such positions put her at odds with Sanders' supporters, who, like President Obama, are committed to Israel's security but also recognize the tremendous toll the occupation and continued expansion of Israeli settlements take on American security interests in the Middle East and on Palestinian society. They would like to see the United States play a more evenhanded role. So far, Clinton has not shown any willingness to confront more hard-line Israeli policies that make peace harder to achieve.
To defeat Trump, Clinton must not revert back to the US foreign policy status quo, which is grounded in the theory that military force and intervention hold the key to peace and prosperity — and has brought little in the way of either. During the more than two decades that US forces have been engaged in military action in the Middle East, militancy and instability have increased, not decreased.
President Obama, to his credit, charted a different course. His insistence on negotiating with Iran, a longtime adversary, produced a landmark nuclear agreement — something that seemed inconceivable when President George W. Bush occupied the White House. Clinton needs to show that she is equally comfortable exercising restraint, and that she understands the limits of US power as well as its effectiveness — an understanding that forms the bedrock of the world view embraced by Sanders and Obama supporters. — Reuters
— Amir Handjani is a fellow with the Truman National Security Project and board member of the Atlantic Council.


Clic here to read the story from its source.