Commentary
Helima Croft, Aaron David Miller
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Source: Getty
In The Media
All the Candidates Failed on America’s Global Role
There was too little discussion of the current crisis with Iran and too little about each candidate’s conception of the U.S. role in world.
Published on Jan 15, 2020
Source: CNN
After six Democratic debates in which foreign policy and national security received short shrift, I was really looking forward to a robust discussion during the seventh, especially given the real time crisis with Iran. I should have known better. There was too little discussion of the current crisis with Iran and too little about each candidate's conception of America's role in world. Here are my depressing and sobering takeaways.
Biden's missed opportunity. He came close to articulating a strategy on North Korea. But the former Vice President missed a huge opportunity to demonstrate his experience, authority and clarity on foreign policy or why he was best credentialed to serve as commander-in-chief. It was the height of irony that the first candidate to even refer to the notion of an overall strategy was Tom Steyer -- the guy with the least foreign policy experience.
No coherent vision. Given the extent of Donald Trump's diplomatic malpractice, a huge opportunity opened up for any of the candidates to lay out a coherent vision and role for America in the world -- simply and clearly. And each candidate was offered at least two chances to do it. None did. What they did offer up -- using more diplomacy; working with allies; getting out of endless wars -- represented slogans and bumper stickers and offered not a single idea of substance on how they would approach these issues or the other serious challenges America confronts.
Withdrawal of US forces Fearful of alienating the party's progressive base, when asked about withdrawal of US forces, all six candidates expressed in varying degrees the need to withdraw US combat forces either totally (Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, or partially (Joe Biden and Amy Klobuchar). No distinction was made between defensive and offensive deployments or training missions. And, sadly, no candidate even bothered to identify US interests in the Middle East -- the first step toward crafting policies to protect and advance them.
About the Author
Aaron David Miller
Senior Fellow, American Statecraft Program
Aaron David Miller is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, focusing on U.S. foreign policy.
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Recent Work
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.