Foreign Policy Update – USA Gov Policy

LEBANON

It appears Lebanon is forming a new government that may be led by a prime minister who is a member of Hezbollah, or at least one who has the strong backing of Hezbollah, according to a senior, unnamed State Department official. In the past the United States had had to work with Lebanonese leaders affiliated with Hezbollah. He added: “Our principles on Lebanon, notwithstanding who may or may not be the next prime minister – because although we have a prime minister-designate, it’s unclear whether they will be able to find a government, be able to form a government – is that this government must be capable of and committed to pursuing reform and fighting corruption.”

Washington is highly skeptical that a government led by Hizballah would be capable of or committed to fighting corruption as it is an organization that depends greatly on corruption for its survival and funding its criminal enterprise and terrorist activities, the official noted. He also added that no government, including Great Britain, China, Russia, France, Italy or the United States is going to bail out Lebanon financially if it is not committed wholeheartedly to financial reform and stopping corruption.

LIBYA

As 2019 ends and a new year begins Libya remains an enormous and escalating concern for Washington. Field Marshal Shalifa Belqasim Haftar is engaged in a second civil in Libya that threatens to further destabilize the country. According to a senior State Department official, there is increased Egyptian support for Hiftar, but he is “most concerned about increased Russian support for Hiftar, increasing numbers of Russian mercenaries on the ground, increasing number – amount of violence, shelling of civilian areas in Tripoli, and of course, the prospect of increased Turkish involvement….” Washington is pushing for a negotiated diplomatic solution and continues to back the Berlin Process which is attempting to develop a consensus on governance and security arrangements.

RUSSIA

The United States is concerned that Nord Stream 2, an undersea pipeline Russia is attempting to lay, will be used in support of Moscow’s campaign of aggression against the Ukraine. The 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) signed by President Trump, calls for immediate cessation of construction-related activity in a “good faith wind-down” by parties that have sold, leased, or provided vessels engaged in laying pipe at depths of over 100 feet for the construction of Nord Stream 2 or face American sanctions.

According to the State Department, the pipeline would allow Russia to bypass the Ukraine for gas transit to Europe and deprive that country of “substantial transit revenues on imports of Russian natural gas.” It also portends a heavy reliance on Russia by western Europe which created both economics and political vulnerabilities in the region. The United States and most of western Europe oppose Nord Stream 2.

Chiropractic is typically misunderstood by the public and I will get negative cialis cost low comments like “I don’t believe in chiropractic,” “Once you go home, instead of sitting in front of TV, take your wife for a walk and after a month, her heart will get fonder and your erection will get stronger”. Impotence is often treated with ‘over the viagra for sale canada counter’ drugs. Achieve The Best Erection: Erectile dysfunction generic prescription viagra is one of the issues that plague the men from all over the world. The soft tablets start working after this short span you become sexually able to get into viagra online österreich the disease, treatment is necessary.

According to the new NDAA legislation, the Secretary of State has up to 60 days to issue a report to Congress to identify violating entities. This is consistent with past US Administrations that also opposed the construction. Diversification of Europe’s energy supplies will continue to promote security for the region by reducing the influence of geopolitics, according to the State Department. Purchasing US LNG already has saved European consumers $8 billion by enabling countries to negotiate lower prices.

PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY

Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, in a press interview this week, called on the Palestinian Authority and Israel to meet to try to work out a political solution to the complex territorial issues plaguing the area. The result, he added, must be one that provides a beneficial outcome for both sides.

Pompeo pointed out that “the parties have to have leaders that are prepared to do things that are difficult. But more importantly, they need to be prepared to engage in a set of conversations….” He said that arguing over who is right or wrong as a matter of international law is not going to get peace. “It’s a complex political problem only resolvable between the Israelis and the Palestinians. We’re – we the United States is committed to help facilitating that. We’ll do what we can.”

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

Our Latest Television Program

New Era in World Affairs

There will be a dramatic change in Washington in the aftermath of the election. What will this mean for America’s national security and foreign affairs? Our guests, former CIA officer and Vice President at the Center for Security Policy Clair Lopez, along with ret. Col. John Mills, (author of The Nation Will Follow) provide extraordinary insights. If you missed the program on your local station, catch it here: https://rumble.com/v5oonnb-the-american-political-zone-november-12-2024.html