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Foreign Policy Update

SECRETARY POMPEO IS TRAVELLING TO ASIA FOR TALKS WITH LEADERS October 6-8

Secretary of State Pompeo will travel to Tokyo, Japan to meet with Prime Minister Abe;  Pyongyang, DPRK to meet with President Moon; Seoul, Republic of Korea with President Moon and Foreign Minister Kang; and, finally in Beijing to meet with his Chinese counterparts to discuss bilateral, regional, and global issues. The purpose of the trip is continue to focus on the final, fully verifiable, denuclearization of the DPRK, and longstanding commitment to American alliances and partnerships in the region.

PRESIDENT TRUMP’S NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR COUNTERTERRORISM

This week President Trump announced a new National Strategy for Counterterrorism that the State Department says: “…brings to bear all facets of American power to protect our people and interests. The President’s strategy emphasizes the importance of diplomacy and the role of international partnerships in combating the terrorist threats we face.”

The strategy, Secretary Pompeo says, recognizes the need for all nations to equitably share the burden of confronting terrorism, to expand the counterterrorism capabilities of Washington’s partners, and to work collaboratively to defeat the terrorists of today and tomorrow.

Terrorist groups are evolving into more complex, fluid, and fast-moving groups that adapt quickly to efforts to thwart their expansion and violence. Networks such as al-Qa`ida, ISIS, and Iranian-supported terrorists continue to target the United States, America’s allies, and partners.

SECRETARY POMPEO SAYS LANDMARK DEVELOPMENT FINANCE LEGISLATION IMPROVES U.S. COMPETITIVENESS OVERSEAS

The recent Congressional Better Utilization of Investments Leading to Development (BUILD) Act of 2018 passed with strong bipartisan support. Known as The BUILD Act, it implements President Trump’s vision for our development finance institutions. It also strengthens the government’s development finance capacity, offering a better alternative to state-directed investments and advancing our foreign policy goals. Secretary Pompeo pointed out: “We are enabling them to mobilize private sector investment to accelerate development and move societies forward. The Act provides opportunities for American companies to compete overseas and create jobs here at home, a critical component of the President’s national economic strategy.”

SECRETARY OF STATE’S PRESS CONFERENCE ON IRAQ, THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE AND PUTTING AMERICA’S DIPLOMATIC CORPS BACK IN THE FIELD 
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On October 3, prior to his Asian trip Secretary Pompeo held a press conference in which he discussed three issues:  Iraq, the International Court of Justice and putting America’s diplomatic corps back in the field. 

Regarding the situation in Iraq, the Secretary said Iran is the origin of the current threat to Americans in that country. “It is to blame for the attacks against our mission in Basra and our embassy in Baghdad. Our intelligence in this regard is solid. We can see the hand of the ayatollah and his henchmen supporting these attacks on the United States.,” he said.

Last week the Secretary ordered the temporary relocation of U.S. Government personnel from the American consulate general in Basra. He also warned the leadership in Tehran that the United States will hold Iran “directly responsible for any harm to Americans or our diplomatic facilities, whether perpetrated by Iranian forces or by associated proxies or elements of those militias.”

These acts appear to be attempts by Iran to counter American successes in the region and are expected to increase after full sanctions are in place beginning on the 4th of November.

The Secretary also announced that Washington is terminating the 1955 Treaty of Amity with Iran. Last July, he said, “Iran brought a meritless case in the International Court of Justice alleging violations of the Treaty of Amity. Iran seeks to challenge the United States decision to cease participation in the Iran nuclear deal and to re-impose the sanctions that were lifted as a part of that deal. Iran is attempting to interfere with the sovereign rights of the United States to take lawful actions necessary to protect our national security. And Iran is abusing the ICJ for political and propaganda purposes and their case, as you can see from the decision, lacked merit.”

The Secretary also discussed “putting the diplomatic team from the United States Department of State back on the field.”  Currently, there are 65 nominees waiting for confirmation in the United States Senate. This number equates to over 25% of all senior-level confirmable positions.

Secretary Pompeo stated that he wants “…every single American to know that what Senator Menendez and members of the Senate are doing to hold back American diplomacy rests squarely on their shoulders.” While there is bipartisan agreement that a fully staffed State Department is critical to American national security, Senator Menendez and others, he pointed out, have held up highly-qualified appointees some for as long as 207 days.

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, 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

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Foreign Policy Update

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, 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.

North Korea Update:

Steve Biegun has been named as the special representative for North Korea. Steve will direct U.S. policy towards North Korea and lead U.S. efforts achieve the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea, as agreed to by Chairman Kim Jong-un. Biegun and Secretary of State Pompeo was scheduled to traveling to North Korea next week, but President Trump has postponed that until Pyongyang demonstrates greater adherence to eliminating its nuclear program.

Secretary of State Pompeo’s Recent testimony the Senate Foreign Relations Committee:

“For the last few weeks I’ve been engaged in three areas of particular interest to this committee: North Korea, NATO, and Russia.

On the subject of Russia, I want to bring something to your attention right off the bat today. Today, the Trump administration is releasing what we’re calling the Crimea Declaration. I won’t read the whole thing. I will submit it for the record. It’s been publicly released as well. But one part reads as follows: “The United States calls on Russia to respect the principles to which it has long claimed to adhere and to end its occupation of Crimea.” End of quote.

I want to assure this committee that the United States does not and will not recognize the Kremlin’s purported annexation of Crimea. We stand together with allies, partners, and the international community in our commitment to Ukraine and its territorial integrity. There will be no relief of Crimea-related sanctions until Russia returns control of the Crimean Peninsula to Ukraine. This Crimea Declaration formalizes United States policy of nonrecognition.

There’s another indicator of diplomatic progress I want to mention. This morning, Pastor Andrew Brunson, who was imprisoned in Turkey for nearly two years, has been let out of jail at Buca. He’s still under house arrest, so our work is not done, but it’s welcome progress – one that many of you have been engaged in and something the State Department has been working on diligently as well. We will continue to work for the speedy return of all Americans unjustly held captive abroad. President Trump will never forget about our own.

Our diplomacy on these issues is advancing the goals of President Trump’s National Security Strategy, which laid down guiding principles for American foreign policy in December. In late April, I started executing on the strategy as Secretary of State. And today, on July 1st – excuse me, today here we are, and I want to present you some progress.

The National Security Strategy established “Protecting the American People, the Homeland, and the American Way of Life” as the pillars of our national security. On July 17th, President Trump stated his firm conviction that “diplomacy and engagement are preferable to conflict and hostility.” These principles have guided our actions on North Korea. President Trump’s diplomacy de-escalated a situation in which the prospect for conflict was rising daily. Americans are safer because of his actions.

As far as the Trump administration’s goals on North Korea are concerned, nothing has changed. Our objective remains the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea, as agreed to by Chairman Kim Jong-un.

As a follow-up to the President’s successful summit with Chairman Kim, on July 5th I traveled to North Korea to make progress on the commitments that were made in Singapore. We are engaged in patient diplomacy, but we will not let this drag out to no end. I emphasized this position in the productive discussions I had with Vice Chairman Kim Yong-chol.

President Trump remains upbeat about the prospects for North Korean denuclearization. Progress is happening. We need Chairman Kim Jong-un to follow through on his commitments that he made in Singapore. Until North Korea eliminates its weapons of mass destruction, our sanctions, and those at the United Stations will remain – United Nations – will remain in effect. Multiple UN Security Council resolutions require North Korea to eliminate all of its weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs. Those resolutions were passed unanimously, and they remain binding. We absolutely need every single nation to maintain the enforcement of those sanctions to which every nation is committed. The path ahead is not easy, but our hopes for a safer world and a brighter future for North Korea endure.
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The National Security Strategy also calls for “Peace through Strength.” President Trump’s engagement on NATO has resulted in greater burden sharing that will strengthen the entire alliance against myriad conventional and unconventional threats. Allies have spent more than $40 billion in increased defense spending since 2016, and there will be hundreds of millions of – billions of dollars more in the years ahead.

Last year’s $14.4 billion in new spending was a 5.1 percent increase. It was the largest in a generation. Eight allies will meet the 2 percent this year; 18 are on track to do so by ‘24. The Trump administration is demanding that every country make its own commitment.

NATO will remain an indispensable pillar of American national security. We know weakness provokes our enemies, but strength and cohesion protect us. The more every NATO member contributes, the better the alliance can fulfill its mission of deterring threats to each of our nations. This is the increased commitment that the President wants.

From the outset of this administration, the National Defense Strategy and the Russia Integrated Strategy, our approach has been the same: to steadily raise the costs of aggression until Vladimir Putin chooses a less confrontational foreign policy, while keeping the door open for dialogue in our national interest. Between our two nations, the United States and Russia possess over 90 percent of the world’s nuclear weapons. President Trump believes that two great nuclear powers should not have a contentious relationship. This is not just in our interest but in the interest of the whole world. He strongly believes that now is the time for direct communication in our relationship in order to make clear to President Putin that there is the possibility, however remote it might be, to reverse the negative course of our relationship. Otherwise, the administration will continue imposing tough actions against Russia in response to its malign activities.

We can’t make progress on issues of mutual concern unless we are talking about them. I’ve heard many of you on this panel say that for years and years. I’m referring to key issues like stopping terrorism, obtaining peace in Ukraine, stopping the civil war in Syria and delivering humanitarian assistance, ensuring security for Israel, and shutting down all of Iran’s malign activity.

And on the subject of Iran, President Trump has said that “Iran is not the same country it was five months ago.” That’s because our campaign of financial pressure, our withdrawal from the nuclear deal, and our full-throated support for the Iranian people, which I articulated in a speech this past Sunday, are having an impact.

In Helsinki, we sought to explore whether Russia was interested in improving our relationship but made clear that the ball is in Russia’s court. We defended America’s fundamental strategic interests in Syria and Ukraine, and I personally made clear to the Russians there will be severe consequences for interference in our democratic processes.

I would also add that President Trump is well aware of the challenges that Russia poses to the United States and our partners and allies. He’s taken a staggering number of actions to protect our interests. As just a few pieces of proof, I’d like to cite the following: 213 sanctions on Russian entities and individuals in the Trump administration; 60 Russian spies expelled from the United States of America and the closure of Russia’s consulate in Seattle in response to Russia’s chemical weapons use in the United Kingdom; the closure of Russia’s consulate in San Francisco, cutting U.S. diplomatic staffing by Russia by almost 70 percent; 150 military exercises have been led or participated in Europe this year alone; more than 11 billion have been put forward for the European Defense[1] Initiative; we made defensive weapons available to Ukraine and to Georgia; and just last week the Department of Defense – this is after Helsinki – added an additional $200 million in security cooperation funds to Ukraine. None of this happened for the eight years that preceded President Trump…

Finally, I want you to know President Trump has stated that he accepts our intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia meddled in the 2016 election. He has a complete and proper understanding of what happened. I know; I briefed him on it for over a year. This is perfectly clear to me personally. I am also certain he deeply respects the difficult and dangerous work that our patriots in the intelligence community do every single day, and I know that he feels the same way about the amazing people that work at the United States Department of State.

 

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On Diplomacy

Criticism of President’s Trump’s get-tough policy on North Korea, in particular his decision to back out of the Singapore meeting in response to statements by Pyongyang officials that made the success of the negotiations suspect, is indicative of a lack of understanding about what the purpose of American diplomacy is. Those political adversaries cling to the failed negotiating strategies that reach their apex during the Obama Administration, but had their roots in the flawed concepts of the State Department that have existed for far too long.

They fail to understand a basic premise: The purpose of U.S. diplomacy is to make life better and safer for the American people. Period.

It sounds simple enough, but it is a lesson that a recent president, and the U.S. diplomatic corps, seem to have forgotten. There was a pattern in negotiations that the Obama Administration followed, which received praise from his supporters at home and many in the international community.  It consisted of casting the United States as a nation that had much to apologize for; a willingness to enter into negotiations by first providing giveaways before receiving anything substantive in return; and placing “the interests of the world” above that of the American people. All three principals were faulty and did not lead to results that were beneficial to the American people.

For at least one hundred years, the United States has been the greatest force for good the planet has ever seen—including for those whom we have opposed in combat.  One example: After the monumental war against Germany and Japan, America rebuilt those nations into entities greater than they ever were.  Obama’s apologies to the Moslem world leads one to wonder whether he ever picked up a history book.  The U.S. defended Egypt against our wartime allies, the British and the French, when they sought to control the Suez Canal.  Reagan defended the people of Afghanistan against Soviet invaders. Washington defended Eastern European Moslems against genocide. Yes, the U.S. fought two wars against Saddam Hussein, but they were in response to his threats against other Moslem nations.  And of course, the American people made several Middle Eastern nations rich by buying their oil, often at inflated prices.

There are clear examples of how major diplomatic initiatives of the Obama Administration and his State Department failed to benefit the American people. To cite two:

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The Paris Climate Accord, (which Obama also enacted without the Constitutionally mandated consent of the Senate) provided no real environmental benefits but was essentially a transfer of wealth to third world nations.  Again, no substantive benefit to the American people.

The State Department, and indeed presidents, are the employees of the American people.  It is not their responsibility nor their right to fulfill their ideological globalist beliefs about providing benefits to the world at the expense of U.S. citizens. Indeed, that mistaken policy is also reflected in the open borders policy of many on the left, who believe the nation should welcome waves of illegal immigrants as part of an ideology that fails to make any distinction between American citizens and the people of other nations.  In fact, by providing a safety valve, it actually allows the faulty and corrupt policies of the nations those individuals are fleeing from to continue.

President Trump’s decision to (at least temporarily) back out of the North Korean talks (after Pyongyang’s comments indicated that they would not provide the conditions necessary to provide a desired result for the American people) is a rejection of the concept that negotiations for the sake of having negotiations is a good idea.  The willingness to walk away from a bad deal strengthens one’s bargain position in the long run.

Photo: State Department building (State Dept. photo)

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Religious freedom vanishing across the globe

According to the U.S. State Department’s latest report on religious freedom,  “In 2013, the world witnessed the largest displacement of religious communities in recent memory. In almost every corner of the globe, millions … representing a range of faiths were forced from their homes on account of their religious beliefs. Out of fear or by force, entire neighborhoods are emptying of residents. Communities are disappearing from their traditional and historic homes and dispersing across the geographic map. In conflict zones, in particular, this mass displacement has become a pernicious norm.”

The numbers throughout the Middle East are particularly worrisome. In Syria, “the Christian presence is becoming a shadow of its former self. After three years of civil war, hundreds of thousands fled the country desperate to escape the ongoing violence perpetrated by the government and extremist groups alike. In the city of Homs the number of Christians dwindled to as few as 1,000 from approximately 160,000 prior to the conflict…In Iraq, Christian leaders and international NGOs estimate there are approximately 500,000 Christians, a decline of nearly 300,000 over the last five years.”

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Western concepts of religious freedom and intolerance are clearly not widespread, and the global challenges to adherents of faiths not subservient to governments are escalating sharply.

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Slavery predominates in Communist & Radical Islamic States

The U.S. State Department has released its latest report on Human Trafficking.

Sadly, the slave trade is not a thing of the past. According to Secretary John Kerry, “More than 20 million people, a conservative estimate, are victims of human trafficking. And the United States is the first to acknowledge that no government anywhere yet is doing enough.” In a recent statement to Congress, Luis CdeBaca, Ambassador-at-Large of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, “Modern slavery undermines the rule of law. It feeds instability, breeds corruption, fuels transnational crime and taints supply chains that drive the global economy.”

The list of nations that are the worst offenders in this foul practice contain no surprises: Cuba, North Korea, Russia, Iran, Algeria, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia, Mauritania,  Papua New Guinea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Thailand, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Yemen, and Zimbabwe.
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With just a few exceptions, every nation on the list subscribes to governing philosophies that reject the concept of individual freedom.  Most also adhere to beliefs that deprive women of equal status before the law.

In our politically correct era, politicians and academics are loathe to state the obvious fact that nations that adhere to the policies of communism or extremist Islam are prone to slavery, by whatever name it is called, because those governments do not believe in individual rights.