Foreign Policy Update – USA Gov Policy

Secretary Pompeo’s Participation in the NATO Foreign Ministerial

Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo participated in the December 1-2 virtual NATO Foreign Ministerial, hosted by Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. In a productive discussion with Allied leaders, Secretary Pompeo emphasized the threat the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) poses to Allied security interests and encouraged increased cooperation to safeguard against the CCP’s malign activities.

The Secretary and his counterparts also discussed additional topics critical to the Alliance. Allied leaders spoke candidly with the Ukrainian and Georgian Foreign Ministers about Black Sea security. Other discussions focused on Russia, arms control, regional security, NATO 2030 and the Forward Looking Reflection Process, and strengthening shared bonds and values between NATO and its Asia-Pacific partners.

During the Foreign Ministerial, the Secretary reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to the NATO Alliance and its essential role in ensuring peace and prosperity.

The United States Welcomes Major Milestone in Afghanistan Peace Negotiations

The United States welcomes the Agreement announced December 2 by the negotiating teams from the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the Taliban. This Agreement is a major milestone in the Afghanistan Peace Negotiations that have been underway since September 12, 2020.

The Agreement codifies the rules and procedures the two sides have been negotiating since the start of talks. The teams made a number of important decisions that will guide their negotiations on a political roadmap and a comprehensive ceasefire.

We congratulate both sides on their perseverance and willingness to find common ground. This achievement demonstrates that the Afghan Islamic Republic and Taliban are serious, able to overcome differences, and ready to deal with difficult issues. What has been achieved provides hope they will succeed in reaching a political settlement to this more than forty-year-old conflict. The United States thanks Qatar for its role as host and facilitator of the talks.

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Rapid progress on a political roadmap and a ceasefire is what the people of Afghanistan want more than anything else. The United States, along with most of the international community, will continue to support the peace process in pursuit of this goal. As negotiations on a political roadmap and permanent ceasefire begin, we will also work hard with all sides in pursuit of a serious reduction of violence and ceasefire.

International Day of Persons with Disabilities

December 3 is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, a fitting occasion for the United States to reaffirm its commitment to, and support for, the full inclusion of persons with disabilities in daily life of the community. We point with pride to robust public and private enforcement of the Americans with Disabilities Act and to other federal, state, and local laws that guarantee open and equal access to facilities, markets, jobs, goods, and services.

It is also a fitting occasion to reaffirm that all members of the human family are “created equal, and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” Each individual must have an equal opportunity to develop his or her unique talents and must be free to pursue their dreams.

We applaud the participation and leadership of persons with disabilities and their representative organizations in efforts to assure equal access and opportunity, and we recognize those whose vision and hard work are the basis for the technologies on which we rely to ensure that no one is left behind.

On this International Day of Persons with Disabilities, I am proud to announce the opening of the Access Center at the U.S. Department of State, an interactive facility showcasing assistive technologies that remove barriers for our employees with disabilities. The United States reaffirms our commitment to promoting and protecting the human rights of all and to achieving equal opportunity in education, employment, and participation in civic life for persons with disabilities.

DARIA NOVAK served in the United States State Department during the Reagan Administration, and currently is on the Board of the American Analysis of News and Media Inc., which publishes usagovpolicy.com and the New York Analysis of Policy and Government. Each Saturday, she presents key updates on U.S. foreign policy from the State Department.

Illustration: Pixabay

Quick Analysis

Putin’s Saber Rattling

Earlier this week, President Biden reversed his 2022 decision, authorizing the provision of antipersonnel land mines to the Ukrainian government. It follows an earlier Administration authorization to allow the use of an advanced American missile system capable of striking as deep as 100 miles inside Russian territory. The US election season may be ending, but both Russia and the West show no indication of stepping down the conflict. Russian propaganda continues to swell as the Kremlin increases its threats to use nuclear weapons against the West. Last week Andrey Sushentsov, program director of the pro-Kremlin think tank Valdai Discussion Club (VDC), published an article on growing nuclear tensions in the region. Official Russian language in the last few years has been threatening. Since the US election, rhetoric like that in the Sushentsov article, has approached the level of nuclear blackmail. The VDC article’s main theme centers on Russia’s intent to directly confront the West militarily if the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) becomes involved in Russia’s conflict with Ukraine. “On the one hand, these threats are intended to frighten the West, but on the other, Russian propagandists themselves are starting to believe in the inevitability of escalation,” according to Ksenia Kirillova of the Jamestown Foundation. On November 11, Sushentsov wrote that “The conflict will reach a completely new level, with unpredictable consequences for Europe and the entire world.” Kirillova points out that Putin’s distorted image of the world is divorced from reality and is causing the Kremlin to issue demands that are impossible to fulfill. Financial and other Russian resources needed to support Putin’s war are growing scarcer at the same time. This week the Kremlin announced a reduction of payments to its soldiers. Recently North Korea acknowledged it was sending soldiers to fight in Ukraine as Putin is running out of bodies to use as cannon fire. The war is not going well for Russia. One question floating around the Washington intelligence community is whether Putin will act out of desperation before President-elect Trump assumes office. In recent months the Russian propaganda machine is spewing out materials from fairly reputable analytical platforms inside the country. Kirillova says that “Kremlin ‘experts’ do not conceal that such threats are only intended to break the West psychologically, as they themselves are not prepared for full-scale nuclear war.” Despite Russia’s lack of preparation for an all-out war with the West, the expanding nuclear rhetoric carries with it an increase in the threat of a full-scale war in multiple theaters of operation. In June 2023 a founder of the Russian Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, Sergey Karaganov, called for “delivering a pre-emptive strike of retaliation” on Poland to force the West to surrender. In the previous month, Dmitry Suslov, a direct of research programs at the policy center proposed organizing “a demonstration nuclear explosion” aimed at intimidating the West. In September, President Putin announced a reappraisal of Russian nuclear doctrine after speaking earlier in the year at the plenary session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum and jokingly calling Suslov a “scary person.” Pavel Baev, writing in the European Daily Monitor, says “Putin intends his announcement to mark an escalation of nuclear brinkmanship and influence the proceedings of future Ukrainian peace efforts.” Putin is expanding the list of environmental conditions that are acceptable for using a nuclear weapon and incorporating it into Russian military doctrine. Baev adds that “The ups and downs of Russian brinkmanship are disconnected from the kinetic battles of the war, correlating instead with Ukrainian peace offensives, such as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s first peace summit in Bürgenstock, Switzerland.” Despite the increase in vitriolic language, in a You Tube video published a week before the US presidential election, Karaganov openly assured the West the primary goal of the escalation is to break the American spirit and that of the West, not outright nuclear war. By Election Day in the US, with political prognosticators predicting a win for former president Trump, Karaganov changed his tune and called for an increased role in nuclear deterrence. Kirillova points out that Western concessions to Russia are unlikely to reduce the risk of nuclear escalation. The distorted reality inside the Kremlin continues to push that President-elect Trump is an adherent of “world government,” that Ukraine will create a nuclear weapon, and Russia must prepare for a nuclear conflagration to achieve its ambitions for a new world order. President-elect Trump has indicated he will not agree to concessions that destabilize Europe, the Middle East or other regions. Going forward a strong US foreign policy may be the most stabilizing course the West can count on to restrain Putin and his intent to rebuild the Russian empire. Daria Novak served in the U.S. State Dept. Illustration: Pixabay

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