President Trump’s War on Diplomacy
By Kira Webster
The White House recently ordered a freeze for up to $4 billion for diplomacy and foreign aid. Unless lawmakers can come up with a reversal by September 30 money could be denied to programs supporting global health (not including HIV/AIDS and other deadly diseases in developing countries), stability in Africa, United Nations peacekeeping, and countering extremism in fragile nations. Although a couple programs will probably remain exempt: a fund for women’s economic development groups (a program championed by Ivanka Trump) and programs protecting religious minorities from persecution (a favorite of Vice President Mike Pence).
If Congress had not blocked President Trump, he would have cut funding to the State Department as much as 30 percent. Most of the funding has been redirected towards the Pentagon and military defense. The military as a whole accounts for over half of discretionary spending. According to Brown University, counterterrorism wars since 9/11 have cost an estimated $5.9 trillion. This has been a direct component to the national debt crisis and will be left for future generations to fix.
The obligatory feeling of spending money towards defense reaches across party lines. Due to lawmakers being afraid to be labeled unpatriotic, anyone who questions Pentagon spending usually ends up supporting enormous defense budgets. Republicans wanted $750 billion for the defense budget earlier this year, and Democrats even favored an increase from $716 to $733 billion. Both met at $738 billion, a near-record level. Before the $4 billion freeze, the State Department budget was around $56 billion. To paint a better overall picture – there are more people working in military grocery stores than U.S. diplomats.
American University International Relations Professor James Goldgier said during the Texas National Security Review – where progressive and conservative views came together on reimagining foreign policy – there showed a greater potential for a bipartisan consensus based on the growing belief that the United States should be engaged in fewer military interventions in the world, given failures in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya.
Mark Edwards, associate professor of U.S. history and politics at Spring Arbor University, points out that President Trump’s attitude and decisions towards diplomacy are a far-cry from our forefathers. Edwards also said America’s vision has been lost under Trump. The first Secretaries of State (Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, and John Quincy Adams) used diplomacy to extend U.S. power and build strong connections abroad. These methods (one of which Jefferson called an “Empire of Liberty”) made our country stronger as a whole with diplomatic agreements like the Louisiana Purchase and the Adams-Onis Treaty.
While Trump differs greatly in personal temperament from other Presidents, the manner in which he’s allowed to carry himself is the result of a dysfunction in U.S. foreign policy that marks the declining influence of the State Department. He’s openly advocated for a nuclear arms race instead of nuclear arms control and gives little regard for the potential extraordinary costs of an armed conflict. He’s also put into motion a huge economic impact: making trade for American capital and goods much more complicated. With the path he’s on it’s entirely possible our markets could end up entirely closed off.
It’s important for the U.S. to have strong defenses, but a solid national security strategy is equally as important – especially one that doesn’t rely on limitless spending. The Pentagon failed its first audit last year, which means more accountability has to be put into place as well. Investing more in diplomacy, development, economic justice, fair trade, nuclear nonproliferation, and climate change reversal would ensure our need for less arms – much less the need to compete in an arms race. Both Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have called for an end to America’s “Endless Wars,” and Warren has proposed doubling the Foreign Service and Peace Corps and opening new posts in underserved areas around the world. Restoring strength in the State Department to build stronger international ties as well as using force as a last resort – with clear objective – is crucial for securing American safety. There will only be more consequences to face down the road when we’re stuck in a war(s) we can’t win.
Kira Webster is a college intern at Peace Economy Project.
