Wednesday, April 17, 2019

Real Changes in US Foreign Policy Are Flying Under the Radar

I don't want to put a funny graphic or cartoon about this, since there are some very real and frightening changes going on with America's foreign policy under President Trump - and they are escalating without most people noticing.

IRAN
Known - President Trump has pulled out of the Iran Nuclear Deal, but other countries have stayed in. This undermines our foreign policy (fp) and our leverage as Europe seeks to find ways around our financial limitations.
NEW - The US has pronounced the Iranian Army (the Revolutionary Guard) a terrorist organization. Because of early sanctions on the country, the Revolutionary Guard (their army) has monetary interest in many (most - in monetary terms) of the country's companies. Any company or government that deals with them can now be sued. This includes not only allies, but countries we are trying to influence like Iraq and Qatar who deal with Iran and the United States. We have our largest military base in the region in Qatar and a huge presence in Iraq. The US is now, technically, a supporter of terrorism (by dealing with terrorist adjacent entities). (link)

CUBA
Known - The administration has rolled back efforts to engage with Cuba.
NEW - (1) The Trump Administration has broken with the the last 3 administrations (Democrat and Republican) to allow people to sue companies doing business in Cuba. These trials will be held in the United States. European countries and Canada have lobbied hard against this. (link) This has prompted Europeans to note that appeals of these laws against Americans will be legal and happen in Europe. (2) The Administration has outlawed the contracts to Cuban baseball players (an odd way of hitting the government). (link)

YEMEN WAR
NEW - The President just vetoed The Yemen War Powers Act that would pulled United States out of the Yemen Civil War (link)

SAUDI ARABIA
Known - We have supported this country despite their illegal murder of a journalist in Turkey, and their coverup.
NEW - The Administration has not conformed to a legal requirement under the Majnitsky Act to report on the Saudi actions in the murder of the journalist. The administration is not uploading our own laws in order to provide protection to the Saudi government. (LINK)

NORTH KOREA
NEW - The President preemptively overruled sanctions his own government was putting in place.

ISRAEL
Known - (1) We have moved out embassy to Jerusalem, contravening international law (BUT in compliance with our own laws, so that is a 50/50 thing). (2) We have closed our contact office with Palestinians the occupied territories and forced their Washington DC office to close. (3) We recognized Israel's annexation of the Golan Heights (again, contravening international law).
NEW - The Administration has endorsed the annexation of the West Bank settlements - contravening international law, US law and closing the door on a 2 state solution which is official US policy.

BREXIT
Never mind, they are fucked up already and nothing we do will really effect that.

International Agreements the Administration has unilaterally quit:

The Paris Climate Accords
The Iranian Nuclear Containment Agreement
Trans Pacific Partnership (It completed without us and now the administration wants something exactly like that, but with a different name)
NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement). - The replacement hasn't been submitted to Congress yet.
South Korean Free Trade Agreement - Again, the replacement hasn't been submitted to Congress yet.

International Organizations the Administration has berated:

NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)
EU (European Union)
WTO (World Trade Organization)
World Bank
United Nations

Countries (* organizations) with no Ambassadors (not a full list): Note: This is bad because, unlike every other American President, Trump demanded all current (he calls them Obama) Ambassadors quit when he was sworn in.

United Nations *
Cuba
Egypt
Jordon
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
South Korea
Turkey
European Union *
ASEAN *
OCED *

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This duet with Rosanne Cash and Keb' Mo' came out 5 years ago.

This duet with Keb' Mo' , featuring Rosanne Cash, came out five years ago and rings truer than ever today.