Foreign Policy Update – USA Gov Policy

CYPRUS

This week Clarke Cooper, Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs, was in Greece conducting talks concerning the current security environment in the East Mediterranean region. He said the US needs to see further assurances from Cyprus on its “ability to deny port access to Russian naval vessels.” According to Cooper, as Cyprus takes a greater role in the Eastern Mediterranean and expanded responsibilities supportive of European Union as well as NATO requirements, “we do need to be more interoperable with them, and that does require addressing the portage issue.” In September Russia held two naval exercises in the energy-rich Eastern Mediterranean, with Russian warships conducting firing exercises. The head of the Centre for Analysis of World Arms Trade in Moscow, Igor Korotchenko, said the exercises were designed as “a show of force by Russia against NATO.”

CHINA

“…the Chinese Communist Party is highly capable, ambitious, and hostile to our basic political principles: democracy, openness, and individual dignity,” according to David Stilwell, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs. At an address this week at the Hoover Institution Stillwell spoke about the Trump Administration’s 2017 National Security Strategy, which is centered on the observation that we are in “a geopolitical competition between free and repressive visions of world order.” Influence and interference operations are fundamental to how the Chinese Communist Party engages with the world. Stillwell said we can’t think of China as simply a trade partner or the home of a great civilization. The Chinese Communist Party’s strategy implicates private as well as governmental targets around the world, he added, and it why all institutions in American society need to “understand that strategy and adopt measures to manage risk, counter coercion, and protect free expression.”

HONG KONG

“The United States strongly condemns the arrest and detention of three student democracy activists and calls on Hong Kong authorities to release those that remain detained immediately,” according to Secretary of State Pompeo in a statement. The Beijing-controlled Hong Kong government continues to stifle dissent, repress public opinion, and use law enforcement for political purposes. There have been a number of arrests, detentions, and harassments of pro-democracy protesters.

Pompeo said the People’s Republic of China has “violated its international obligations under the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration,” while the Chinese Communist Party and its Hong Kong proxies crush the promised autonomy of Hong Kong, and “eviscerate Hong Kong’s respect for human rights,” including the rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression.

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IRAN

“Instead of using its natural resource wealth to improve living conditions for the Iranian people, the Iranian regime prefers to pawn its oil to fund the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) and support its terror proxies as they sow chaos and destruction around the Middle East. We will not let that happen,” according to Secretary of State Michael Pompeo in a statement release on October 31, 2020. The US also condemned attacks by the Iranian-backed Houthis against Saudi Arabia. The attacks were launched indiscriminately towards Riyadh, and risked the lives of innocent civilians, including Americans. Pompeo said: “These acts demonstrate that the Houthis are not serious about seeking a political solution in order to bring peace to Yemen. The United States calls on Iran to stop smuggling weapons to the Houthis in violation of UN Security Council resolutions and to stop enabling the Houthis’ aggressive acts against Yemen and towards its neighbors, including Saudi Arabia.”

MALDIVES

Secretary Pompeo announced that the United States is opening its first permanent embassy in the Maldives. He said the United States wants to continue to build out what has been a “really important” security and diplomatic relationship. The Maldives are located just southwest of India and are in a strategic area where China is increasing its naval activity and influence operations.

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

Election Day is Only the Beginning, Part 2

There is a stark contrast in foreign affairs between the Biden-Harris record of a disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Putin invasion of Ukraine, China’s assault on the Philippine exclusive economic zone, and the widening Middle East catastrophe. The Trump White House archives provides a lengthy list of foreign policy results. “President Trump restored American sovereignty at home and American leadership abroad, partnering with strong and responsible nations to promote security, prosperity, and peace. Instead of sending American troops to fight in endless wars or giving cash to terrorists in countries like Iran, the United States under President Trump used bold, creative diplomacy to secure peace deals with our allies across the world. With the same “peace through strength” foreign policy that President Reagan once used to win the Cold War, President Trump rebuilt American deterrence power to hold our adversaries accountable. Perhaps most important, the Trump Administration reversed Washington’s decades-long, bipartisan refusal to confront China over its unfair trade practices, intellectual property theft, and more. Specifically, the Trump Administration: “Secured a $400 billion increase in defense spending from NATO allies by 2024, as the number of members meeting their minimum financial obligations more than doubled Credited by Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg for strengthening NATO Worked to reform and streamline the United Nations and reduced spending by $1.3 billion Allies, including Japan and the Republic of Korea, committed to increase burden-sharing Protected our Second Amendment rights by announcing that the United States will never ratify the UN Arms Trade Treaty Returned 56 hostages and detainees from more than 24 countries Worked to advance a free and open Indo-Pacific region, promoting new investments and expanding American partnerships Advanced peace through strength Withdrew from the one-sided Iran Nuclear Deal and imposed crippling sanctions on the Iranian regime Conducted vigorous enforcement on all sanctions to bring Iran’s oil exports to zero and deny the regime its principal source of revenue First president to meet with a leader of North Korea and the first sitting president to cross the demilitarized zone into North Korea Maintained a maximum pressure campaign and enforced tough sanctions on North Korea while negotiating denuclearization, the release of American hostages, and the return of the remains of American heroes Brokered economic normalization between Serbia and Kosovo, bolstering peace in the Balkans Signed the Hong Kong Autonomy Act and ended the United States’ preferential treatment with Hong Kong to hold China accountable for its infringement on the autonomy of Hong Kong Led allied efforts to defeat the Chinese Communist Party’s efforts to control the international telecommunications system Recognized Jerusalem as the true capital of Israel and quickly moved the American Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem Acknowledged Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights and declared that Israeli settlements in the West Bank are not inconsistent with international law Removed the United States from the United Nations Human Rights Council due to the group’s blatant anti-Israel bias Brokered historic peace agreements between Israel and Arab-Muslim countries, including the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Bahrain, and Sudan Brokered a deal for Kosovo to normalize ties and establish diplomatic relations with Israel Announced that Serbia would move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem First American president to address an assembly of leaders from more than 50 Muslim nations, reaching an agreement to fight terrorism in all its forms Established the Etidal Center to combat terrorism in the Middle East in conjunction with the Saudi Arabian government Announced the Vision for Peace Political Plan—a two-state solution that resolves the risks of Palestinian statehood to Israel’s security, marking the first time Israel has agreed to a map and a Palestinian state Released an economic plan to empower the Palestinian people and enhance Palestinian governance through historic private investment Reversed the previous administration’s Cuba policy, canceling the sellout deal with the Communist Castro dictatorship Pledged not to lift sanctions until all political prisoners are freed, freedoms of assembly and expression are respected, all political parties are legalized, and free elections are scheduled Enacted a new policy aimed at preventing American dollars from funding the Cuban regime, including stricter travel restrictions and restrictions on the importation of Cuban alcohol and tobacco Implemented a cap on remittances to Cuba Enabled Americans to file lawsuits against persons and entities that traffic in property confiscated by the Cuban regime First world leader to recognize Juan Guaido as the Interim President of Venezuela and led a diplomatic coalition against the Socialist Dictator of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro Blocked all property of the Venezuelan government in the jurisdiction of the United States Cut off the financial resources of the Maduro regime and sanctioned key sectors of the Venezuelan economy exploited by the regime Brought criminal charges against Nicolas Maduro for his narco-terrorism Imposed stiff sanctions on the Ortega regime in Nicaragua Photo: Trump site