"America's Image", you say? What exactly does a good image earn you? Plenty of countries are currently doing business with Russia and China--despite their heavy-handed deal-making.
And have we not done enough good deeds throughout history to buy us a little good will? Have we not spent enough in foreign aid? Have we not liberated or defeated enough countries--then handed everything back to them?
The liberal version of how to engender "good will" is to be nice...give in...play the patsy--appease, appease, appease. This is how we have ended up with scores of bad trade deals--and how we have become the "Policeman of the World". Being nice has allowed us to spend trillions to defend other wealthy capitalist nations--like South Korea, Germany and Japan. Being nice allows us to pick up the lion's share of the costs for NATO and the UN.
So let's try being no so nice. Instead, let's just be smart. Let's do what's good for America, our companies and their employees--like every other nation on earth. Can we try that for a bit?
10
@Jesse The Conservative
Well the stable genius you so admire -- you know, the one with a very large brain who thanked himself this Thanksgiving for doing so much good -- has been not so nice to our trading partners with tariffs on steel and aluminum. Result: GM is closing five plants in the U.S. and Canada, losing more jobs for auto workers than those saved for steel workers. Aren't you tired of all this winning?
19
It seems highly unlikely that Nancy Pelosi and the rag-tag group of new Dem House members are going to do anything except alienate more independents and moderate Dems. They will be looking for Trump’s head to satisfy the anger of the left. And those Dems who are actually interested in positive policy and not hating all things Trump—well they will get no press coverage from the MSM or FOX. So no, Dems will not accomplish anything in the next 2 years.
4
@ehillesum
Judging from your rhetoric, it's clear that you're unable to rise above name-calling and the "US-versus-THEM" mentality that is the hallmark of this president....SAD.
11
There are many things the Democrats could so to offer a new direction for American foreign policy, but sadly they won't. Despite the acrimony between the Democrats and Republicans on a host of domestic issues, on foreign affairs they are more in synch than most people are aware of.
Bot parties have supported increasingly bloated military budgets. The article mentions the build up of nuclear weapons but neither party asks why?
The Democrats have supported every Middle East war since 1992 and enthusiastically supported Obama's expansion of those wars into Libya and Syria.
The Democrats have fully supported Netanyahu's annexation plans for the West Bank. While they opposed the move of the US embassy to Jerusalem, this was more symbolism than substance.
As far as supporting democratic initiative and human rights, the Democrat's supported the coup in Honduras and now we witness their refugees on our border who are fleeing from the violence that we helped create.
Finally the Democrats's have no long range strategic view. The GOP wants to dominate China and then Russia and the Democrats simply want to do the same, only in reverse order.
Neither party recognizes that the greatest threat to American security is global warming, the threat to the global food supply as a consequence of global warming and the looming mass migrations and wars that will result from these disruptions.
4
Anyone with even a modicum of experience in international relations knows , that the rest of the world does not think the way we ,in America think about relations with countries abroad . Communicating with people from other cultures requires a certain amount of curiosity and insight . And once that curiosity and understanding is active , real communication can ensue , with some positive results.
What we have today is a president who is neither curious nor insightful about our neighbors in the world. As a result of this narcissistic approach, it will take us at least a decade to mend the damage that has been done by the current occupant of the Oval Office. International relations works with mutual respect and understanding, regardless of the ultimate aims of money and power .
Unfortunately, it is too late for Donald Trump to go back to school. What we need to do is find a way to remove him from office so we can attend to the business of repairing the wounds that he has inflicted upon our country .
We repair the damage by removing the person who is causing it .
16
@RD As a decent president should, Trump should visit war torn Afghanistan, Yemen, and Syria to see real horror and suffering- and not from a western hotel room or Air Force 1.
3
@ZulaZ: And, do you have any idea what Trump's reaction will likely be, if he were to visit Afghanistan, Yemen and Syria?
The same look on his face, when he saw the damage in California from the Camp fire; blank, oblivious, and thinking to himself, "can I go home, now?"
3
To deal with Trump is a waste of time. The problem is, no matter who is in power going forward, the genie is out of the bottle, the world has changed and it will never be the same.
It was always well understood that to much of the western industrialized world, America ALWAYS acted in its self-interest and a country was only a friend if it acted in America's interests.
Clearly, everything has now changed and considering the fact that 40% of American citizens still are in agreement with how Trump and The Republican Party conduct themselves and look at the world around them, it is clear, at some point, there is another like Trump waiting in the wings to eventually become President again.
The world is gradually moving on and the "spheres of influence" are changing with or without America. It is just not worth the aggravation anymore.
2
As soon as we rid ourselves of this miserable administration, repairing the damage will not happen over night. How pathetic that "t' doesn't believe the report on climate change by highly qualified scientists. Such an ignorant response to such a serious issue. Everything he says and does is an embarrassment . Imagine spraying tear gas at children. Totally disgusting. He thinks he knows it all, yet in reality he knows nothing and proves it every day. One day in January he'll rue the day he became president.
2
Although there are some good ideas in this article, these two former Obama Administration national security officials are in no place to lecture to the incoming Congress on the conflict in AfPak region, or the war in Yemen. Admittedly, they didn't inherit a great situation in Afghanistan, but they didn't do much to help it either, for eight years. They could have stopped the drones in Yemen, but didn't, and they could have stood back from the Yemeni-Houthi conflict, but decided to provide logistical support to the Saudis and their allies. I agree that President Trump should have fulfilled his pledges to end some of our long-running conflicts, but just like President Obama, he was handed unpalatable situations on his foreign policy plate, and didn't create America's image problem by himself.
1
it goes without saying what the democrats need to petition Trump about. if they just follow the guidelines in this article that would be a most refreshing change/ improvement from what we've seen / heard from them since Trump moved into the WH. The malicious, destructive IRRATIONALITY of Trump's political agenda, actually anything which comes out of his mouth, has already reeked havoc on meriad of significant areas both domestically and internationally - all with serious, dire consequences to the planet.
take for example the final report on global warming published BY THE ADMINISTRATION- and its antagonistic position on each & every item in it. how rational is that !? we can be compared to a person sitting high on a branch of a big tree, sawing the branch he sits on, as he says : " this branch needs to come off". global warming, taarifs, health care, stopping caravans, fires in California and how to combat them, coal Energy - the list is very long. the one common denominator for these and many others is the total absence of planning, forethought, expert input. utter irrationality and incompetence carry the day: with drastic, inevitable consequences both home and abroad. so OF COURSE the dems need to petition trump. and if they continue their minutiae little struggles of who should be the speaker of the house,( or the best presidential candidate in 2020), they're bound to blow away the golden chance we handed them Nov. 6.
we need to stop kidding ourselves.
1
it will be a great help if the newbie Democratic representatives don't turn on Nancy Pelosi. Our prez is saying he supports her because he knows the new class will think she will cave to his ideas. She won’t, and he probably doesn’t anyway.
If the Democrats want to have any control of Congress they need to go with what is the experienced crowd. They can reinvent the House when they are re-elected in 2020. It was lies and interference that cost them the House. As the old saying goes, the truth will make them free.
1
This is indeed rich. A lecture from two Obama "national security officials" on the proper conduct of foreign policy. Perhaps Mr. Rhodes and Mr. Sullivan had roles in all the Obama administrations resounding foreign policy successes - the loss of Libya and its devolution into civil war: allowing Assad to murder hundreds of thousands of Syrians after ignoring Obama's "red line" on the use of chemical weapons with impunity; the rise of Isis and its murderous conquests of large portions of Iraq and Syria; the annexation of Crimea by the Soviet Union, abandoning the Ukraine to Soviet interference, including, best of all, the shooting down of a commercial airliner killing 250 innocent civilians. The list goes on and on.
America became a weak laughingstock in the eyes of the world under Obama and the likes of Rhodes and Sullivan. Giving any credence, much less an op-ed space, to these guys is like taking campaign advice from Hilary Clinton.
6
I must have been witnessing a different election because I barely heard any discussion at all about international relations--excepting the "Caravan."
1
Amazing that We, the People, are being “Led” by a certifiable and
Diagnosable Sociopathic Personality Disorder....in the body of
Donald Trump. He has personally and Publicly manifested all
of the symptoms of the Sociopathic Personality, most notable
being his chronic use of Lies. Unfortunately, We, the People,
do Not apparently understand the basic nature and tennents of the Diagnosis described. True to character, “President” Trump is,
at least, fully enjoying his role as the People’s absolute Center
of Attention
2
As someone who has lived outside the U.S. in some 40 countries for the last 9 years I can say with a high degree of confidence that the average person in the world doesn't care about your "burning" issues or American food fights. The only constant is most despise their own politicians. A remarkable (to me) high percentage of them like President Trump. Flail on avoiding actually legislating - that doesn't get sound bites and clicks - but it might do some good.
1
@Sailboat Captain
Of course your opinion solely rests on those whom you deem as "average".
But as an equally traveled duo-national, I'm inclined to disagree with you because like it, or not -- global and international trade is effected in one way or the other by what's going on in the U.S.
2
When I say average I refer to clerks, repair types, Grab drivers etc. I have been retired for years so have little interactions with the current crop of business people.
Senior national security officials in the Obama administration?
Trump is in office because as much as any other factor Obama bailed out Wall Street and left those on Main Street to fend for themselves. Many of his failures can be chalked up to GOP obstructionism, but not that one.
Our national security threats have always been from the inside, as though any other country has the wealth and technology to invade us from without. Who's in that Trojan horse? A bunch of obscenely wealthy white dudes, literally laughing on their way to the bank.
Can you please take a step back and remember the crisis that was wrecking working families during that crash, and what the unemployment was, and increased, until Obama put all political capital he had in trying to halt both?
Think, just for a minute, about what he was inheriting.
Then think, for a moment, just how much he worked to stabilize the economy while trying to help the middle class— not only through tax breaks for working families but also the Health Care Act to try —TRY, at least, to attack this monolith.
Compare.
1
Further, once Dems retake the Senate and the White House, they should consider instituting a "RIF"--what federal employees know to be a "reduction in force"--for the Supreme Court. Cut its number of justices from 9 to 7 and do it by seniority. Then maybe they could all sign a get-well card for Mitch McConnell.
Henceforth any country which enters into diplomatic negotiations will have to ask themselves, before they agree to anything, what if they (the U.S.) elect another lunatic?
I would expect, in future, foreign interlocutors will require lunatic-proof treaties.
You are directly responsible for making America look weak and pathetic. You drew a red line that was ignored and did nothing about it. You allowed hundreds of thousands of innocent Syrian civilians to be murdered. You rewarded decades of state-sponsored terrorism by Iran with billions of dollars, which they used to murder innocent Syrians and Yemeni. You rewarded decades of Cuba opposing American interests and jailing and killing dissidents by lifting the embargo.
6
Good thinking. Are we considering how autocrats invent wars to to distract the populace, or make them so fearful they cannot react to insanity? Trump is a coward, and cowards do like to
seem strong, no matter what, especially if an election looms.
Yemen is the worlds worst humanitarian catastrophe? What were you two doing while over 400,000 Syrians have died-closer to 500,000. Oh that’s right. You were standing on the other side of the red line while they were being gassed.
5
Excellent piece, with excellent policy initiatives. Where were you guys the last few years? Seriously, where were you? Many of your points that you laid out here could have been achieved by President Obama and his administration, but he did none of them. Ending the endless wars. He didn't end it in Afghanistan. Stopping America's participation in Yemen with the Saudis. Stopping arm sales to Saudi Arabia. Stopping the disastrous CIA/Saudi joint initiative of regime change in Syria; Timber Sycamore ring a bell? The disastrous regime change in Libya. The record number of Obama officials that have ended up in jobs of the industries, and particularly on Wall Street, that they were suppose to regulate. His attack on the free press by invoking the Espionage Act of 1918 more than all presidents combined before him, to go after whistle blowers and the journalists who dared reveal the illegal activities our government was up to. The prosecution of journalist Julian Assange. And whistle blower Edward Snowden who exposed NSA wiretapping of all of Americans correspondence and phone calls. The lack of election integrity legislation, or even addressing the need to do away with an election system implemented by eighteenth century white slave holders to retain power, the Electoral College. The result? A record number of people failed to go to the polls in 2016 and those that did saw their votes ignored and the candidate with the least votes win. Again.
5
Absolutely agree. The place to start is the recent climate report the Trump regime is trying to ignore.
The Democrats should just have one agenda - neutralize Trump. And everything good will follow - for Americans and the rest of the world!
2
"Americans sent the world a message on Election Day that they reject the course set by President Trump ..." you state.
I do not think that the majority win in the house and the loss of two senate seats (at least 2) can be interpreted as such. I wish it could.
First, there seems a majority of people (albeit a small majority based on my reading that reject Trump; this does not mean they reject his policies. You cannot peal your assertion out of the data available.
Second, to which extent Trump was the culprit for the house loss is debatable. America loves divided government and you simply could make the case that this loss follow an old tradition.
Third, the signature Trump issue of immigration divides the democrats. In fact it seems that democratic voters largely align with the thought process of "cracking down" on immigration, albeit not the erratic and legally questionable Trump methods.
2
The increasing irrelevance of America in my neck of the woods was on display in the just completed APEC meeting down this was. China dominated the event and the economic powerhouses of the Asia Pacific region spent most of the meeting working out how to work with China.
America sent it's vice president and he was hardly heard from and such was his and America's disdain for the event the he didn't even bother to actually stay in the city or indeed the country it was held in. Rather he flew from his hotel in tropical northern Australia each morning and back again each evening.
China sent it's president and a huge entourage and they put on a display of diplomatic muscle that was impossible to ignore.
It's extremely hard to see America regaining it's cultural and diplomatic significance any time soon in this region.
4
All minor points when compared to Trump's willingness to destroy our own habitat.
3
Well said. Trump's abuse of the power of the presidency is unprecedented; demanding, in the near future, some sensible changes to minimize what the current beast in the White House is so 'good' at while without supervision by the Legislative branch of government, the destruction of this democracy. The singlemost harm, lasting much beyond the current despot's rein, shall be the loss of trust in our institutions, and in each other. In addition to the irresponsible increase in debt by the recent tax cut for the corporate world, the world-wide adventurism Trump is embarked in is highly disruptive and dangerous. This bully in-chief must be unseated, and the sooner the better, as his sick ego has no remedy, and his deep ignorance (knowing nothing is what makes him so arrogant, as he believes he knows more that the 'generals'), added to his insecurity and immaturity, makes him unfit for any public office, let alone the presidency. And we haven't even mentioned his malicious denial of scientifically proven human-made climate change, all to favor the major oil and coal pollutants, along the blatant deforestation at home and abroad.
5
Lots of talk here about the irreversible destruction of the U.S. and its reputation as well as the mistaken notion that the American people elected Trump. I say phooey to both.
The U.S. will resurrect itself. And Trump only won by colluding with Russia, to whose richest citizens he is indebted.
The Mueller report is going to be mighty damning.
3
The way Democrats can assure a defeat of Donald Trump in 2020 is to change their own message on immigration.
First, if Democrats want to save the world, they should start with global warming and its primary cause, too much population growth. For example, the population of Africa is projected to double by 2050 adding another 1.2 billion to that continent. It is that population growth which has caused starvation in South Sudan, genocide in Rwanda, civil war in the Congo, AIDS in Zimbabwe, drought in South Africa, and the list goes on.
The US needs a policy of providing family planning for free to all the poor countries of the world, and of making abortion available to those that want it.
Without that, our current problems will get steadily worse. Migration from Africa and the Middle East has already destabilized many European countries, for example, bringing Viktor Orban to power in Hungary, just as fear of migration from Central America brought Donald Trump to power.
We need a foreign policy that recognizes that birth control is a human right. And that conversely, it is a human rights abuse for families to have more than two children in an overpopulated world.
We can't decide to do that? Then the governments that survive will be autocracies like China, which introduced an effective one-child policy in 1979.
People will choose autocracy over a democracy which abandons its own poor as an unending stream of refugees drives us to a Malthusian future.
6
Trump is incompetent. What is frightening is the collapse of the balance of power to contain and remove a real and present danger. Ukraine today, what else tomorrow? Trump presents a dangerous void when faced with real tangible and cyber danger, not toddlers at the border.
7
Readers, please note that this is the same propagandist Ben Rhodes who boasted of how he created an 'echo chamber' in online, print and broadcast news media to market the Obama administration's foreign policy, particularly the Iran nuclear deal:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/obama-official-says-he-pushed-a-narrative-to-media-to-sell-the-iran-nuclear-deal/2016/05/06/5b90d984-13a1-11e6-8967-7ac733c56f12_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.6f442714e697
“All these newspapers used to have foreign bureaus,” he said. “Now they don’t. They call us to explain to them what’s happening in Moscow and Cairo. Most of the outlets are reporting on world events from Washington. The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old, and their only reporting experience consists of being around political campaigns....They literally know nothing....We created an echo chamber..”
Although I agree with Rhodes' assessment of the declining quality of journalists in recent years, and Rhodes' astute observation that major news outlets could be easily exploited because of their gross knowledge deficits, Rhodes engaged in behavior that this paper would have decried as fascist and something one would see in a banana republic with state controlled media if it had been carried out by any member of the Trump administration.
Giving Rhodes a platform in the paper of record while omitting critical information about his past is a good example of why so many distrust the media. Shame on you.
9
@Middleman MD
Oh. So that means it's alright for Steve Bannon, FOX news, Alex Jones and all the other right-wingnuts out there to have a platform based on their outright lies and half-truths?
If anything, that's reason enough to distrust the media.
4
After the eight (8) year nightmare pretend president obama regime, it is difficult to repair America's image abroad. Privately, world leaders never accepted or recognized poseur buffoon obama as legitimate. Instead, he was rightly recognized as the final disastrous outcome of race based affirmative action programs. Indeed it was acutely embarrassing to be American during his corrupt, feckless (administration.) Europeans in particular, remain astounded how such an unqualified buffoon could become president. However, America is resilient, recovering The dark cloud has lifted. Things are looking up thanks to leadership skills of businessman leader President Trump.
4
@Screenwritethis It would appear that you have never traveled outside the U.S. and don't know anyone from a foreign country.
5
@Screenwritethis Are you in touch with reality? The Europeans despise Trump. He lies so much no one can trust him. Just read the polls of how America is perceived now as compared to When President Obama was in charge. The whole world has a negative judgement on America due to Trump, except for Russia. They like Trump since they know that Trump is working hard to make Russia great again.
4
@Screenwritethis
You're living in an alternative, rightwing universe if you truly believe this tripe.
2
Mr. Rhodes and Mr. Sullivan, I wish you also would have mentioned Myanmar/Burma since you were the chief architects for engagement and the lifting of U.S. economic sanctions there based on your very erroneous assertion that democracy was blossoming under the new military “reform” government. Boy were both of you wrong. The Rohingya are the most persecuted people on the planet and still you do not speak out about the ethnic genocide that began in Burma during your watch. I know the Trump administration could care less about genocide and the crimes against humanity that have been perpetrated by Burmese military death squads. But you certainly should, especially since this abject foreign policy failure was one of your pet projects. And I know we have now reimposed some sanctions on their military leadership; however, that’s grossly insufficient terms of accountability. Also, their civilian leader (and former Nobel Peace Prize laureate) Aung San Suu Kyi needs to face consequences for her complicity in these heinous crimes.
3
Nothing! Trump does nothing unless it is important to his own welfare . He is far too lazy and self centered to attend to the needs of anything or anyone else. His only motivation is to self and we can see this in even the most microscopic of his behaviors. Thus all of his strange actions with Putin and MBS are to his personal advantage as are his insults to those who have been this nations best friends. He is getting a personal payoff with every environmental rollback with every tax cut with every meeting he has with business leaders.
Don't think for a moment that he just doesn't understand the effects of his actions or that he is too stupid. If you can't see how his apparent foolishness benefits him it is because the truth is still hidden from our eyes.
3
The problem is that America has ceased to be the America of new ideas, better marketing, hard sell, and above all, sane economics. It's like Superman changed his mind about being a super hero, and decided to start a pedophile ring instead. Trump is the natural result of a stagnant, ultra-dumbed-down, basically criminal, brattish culture, in which only money talks and careers are made out of gossiping with it a lot.
The host of these parasites, the GOP, is the pathetic ghost of itself, hopelessly compromised and corrupted. That means US democracy, policy and decision making are derailed and diverted to what are basically insane, if profitable for some, positions and policies.
The Democrats can't reform the GOP, put it in rehab for its idiot addiction, and turn it in to a healthy party again. They can't turn Trump into FDR, either. The need is for new structures and new safeguards, not yet another patch job on a building which has been gutted on so many levels.
Old solutions cannot solve new problems. Move forward, and move fast. If the senile GOP, ALEC, the Trump administration and its Rube Goldberg-like barely functional machinery have proved nothing else, it's that they can't adapt to change.
2
One problem is that Mr. Trump too is offering the world an authoritarian path. He simply disguises it as national security.
Democrats must take interest in and action on his actions against would-be immigrants who want to enter the country legally. Democrats must also work to keep our allies, despite Mr. Trump's efforts to alienate them.
1
Speaking of the interplay between domestic and foreign policy and the U.S. image abroad, the House can also deny Trump the funds to build his wall on the Mexican border, especially since Mexico won't pay for it.
Sorry to say, but in the foreign affairs side, I see no way for the US to recover their image. Who can trust?, when will arrive the new Trump?
So says the man who helped mess up and contribute to the feckless foreign policy of the Obama Administration. Know what? Ben Rhodes should not speak for America. Just because he too hates Trump is not a reason to bring back this mans perspective on the world. It was wrong then and it is wrong now.
6
It's very interesting that this piece gets 150 comments while the one about two "liberals" changing sides gets 600.
These two authors have it exactly right. I hope enough attention gets paid.
1
The United States' image may be a bit battered right now, but it is hardly the only part of the world in turmoil right now because older generations want to maintain their traditional status and try to keep the world the way they want it.
Righting the ship and strengthening the institutions and norms that every other past US president has honored--in addition to getting rid of Trump--would go a long way to repairing the US's image, and may even show the way for other countries to get rid of their authoritarian regimes. The results of the last election and the fact that younger generations overwhelmingly do not support Trump, the Republicans, or the course they are steering us on give cause to be optimistic.
4
@Morgan
No offense. Not only is this not an ageist thing -- but at the moment we don't really have the luxury of making it one.
ALL Americans need to be on deck to bring about a change (which also means challenging the Trump), and whatever generation is at the ready, should join in.
1
Instead of being a beacon for the green energy revolution, Trump's America provides developing nations a road map to hell on Earth. May god have mercy on our souls.
4
A third of this nation are ugly Americans like Trump. A third don't care.
4
While agreeing wholeheartedly with the points raised in this op-ed, a glaring omission was the need to address climate change. Although not directly aligned with foreign policy in the sense of the author's main concern, this is an overarching national and global concern, affecting both political allies and rivals. Imagine if the U.S. troops who had been deployed to the combat the false "caravan invasion" had instead been sent to assist in putting out the wildfires in California. It would likely have saved both lives and property.
Yes, we need several investigations into the Trump administration's flagrantly divisive policies on many issues.
And the newly-elected Democratic majority in the House needs to reverse the distorted Trump definition of "national security" that only serves to provide red meat to his base by inflaming xenophobic emotions and that has also resulted in our country's diminished reputation around the world.
Trump's complicity with MbS and acceptance of Saudi Arabia's cover-up of the Kashoggi assassination is infuriating. That we are heavily invested in providing the weapons of mass destruction used against the Yemeni people needs to be stopped immediately.
It remains the responsibility of our government to work in concert with our many (possibly former?) allies to combat climate change and the concomitant issues that arise from it. The malicious irrationality of Trump's political agenda must be checked and overcome as soon as possible.
122
@JePense Waiting for others will not solve anything. We should lead by example. If the US were the leader in providing green energy solutions, it would not only help the planet, it would help our economy and labor force as well as our strength and standing in the world, truly a win-win.
69
@wysiwyg — The column DOES address climate change. There was no “glaring omission.” Here’s what the authors said:
“And while Mr. Trump may have vacated American leadership on climate by leaving the Paris accords, Democrats should fight to restore United States funding to mitigate the effects of a warming planet, including mass migration and armed conflict, while pressing for the planning necessary to deal with those problems as they worsen.”
25
@JePense Those are developing countries. What is the US excuse for not pursuing greener technologies almost exclusively?
2
I am not sure a message was sent to the world on election day when the greatest deliberative body in the world, the US Senate, added seats supporting DT. Forget a popularity contests, ours is a republic, as long as we can keep it!
8
@Ray On the Senate side, the Dems lost 4 of the 26 seats they were defending. The Pubs lost 2 of the 9 they were defending. When the roles are reversed in 2 years, the Senate may well change colors, too. We have a democratically elected republic. Half of that goes away, if the GOP continues voter suppression efforts, but it will keep poking the beast to turn out in large numbers.
5
@Ray 36 of the Senate seats were up for election this year. 50 million Americans voted for the Democratic candidates. 34 million voted for the Republican candidates. Does our "republic" represent human beings or represent sagebrush and tumbleweed?
We are supposed to be a representative democracy or a democratic republic, take your pick -- "republic" by itself is meaningless. Hamilton's Federalist #68 directly set forth the plan to prevent a Trumpocracy.
4
Soon we will find out if America accepts Trump's kleptocracy form of government ,fawning over autocrats and trashing our long time allies. The Trump family is poised to cash in on the presidency which they have already done and in the future this pack of grifters will be cashing in as planned. Why else are they in the White House, dedication to Public Service ,they are spawn of a greedy corrupt family and will act accordingly. A billion dollar loan for Kushner from Qatar saved his 666 5th ave building only because Trump brought his family into the White House, ditto 100 million to Ivanka . The bromance Jared has with the murderous MSB explains Trump's refusal to accept our CIA'S conclusion just as he sided with Putin over our intel agencies . Trump likes dictators as he wants to be one and his personal and family financial interests trump our country's interests ,the low information voters ignore facts and follow his lying tweets.
4
What we have demonstrated to our allies is that our electoral system is a fraudulent process. A mere 70,000 votes spread over three states gave Trump the Electoral College - three states filled with Russian trolls, GOP social media fake news all targeting Democratic voters. Three gerrymandered states with election systems run by the Republicans. A total farce.
7
@jefflz
It pays to keep your facts straight.
Gerrymanders do not affect the electoral vote -- they only help determine the results of House of Reps elections.
In 2016 the election system in Pennsylvania was run by Democrats.
The electoral college rules were set in the Constitution and the Democrats miserably failed to do what was necessary to get out the Democratic voters in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. In simple terms, Clinton handed the election to Trump by running an incompetent campaign.
It's not just our foreign policy that's for sale under Trump, this is a wholesale Black Friday clearing out of our very humaniterian values and our standing in the world as a functioning democracy.
48
The United States' image cannot be repaired with Trump in office. Now is not the time for dreaming but grim resistance and preparation. The strongest statement we can make is removal through the impeachment process in Congress, or a big electoral defeat of Trump in 2020.
3
@Myron B. Pitts. I would greatly prefer the electoral option, an odious consequence of impeachment being a Pence presidency.
2
As long as tweeter in chief is the face of the country, it will be difficult to undo the damage. There remain places in the USA that are oblivious to his actions. People there just want to pay the rent and put food on the table but they also rabidly consume his stream of baloney.
I travel extensively outside our borders and everywhere I go the conversations often turn to the president and his attitude and policies. Most opinions are negative toward him and concerns about what will happen in a crisis are obvious.
I find that most hotels have CNN, Fox News, and Sky News (also Murdoch) so their views are skewed positively toward the president. Not helpful.
The n financial terms, if your investment loses 33% of its value, you need to get a 50% return just to get even. I think our reputation has lost far more than that. Just to get back to where we were will be a huge undertaking and the cost will be high.
3
Of course trump deserves to be removed (and jailed?). But will enough Republican Senators recover their consciences to convict ham after an impeachment vote in the House? And what will become of Pence, who came to power by means of the same flawed election? If Pelosi becomes president will the Republicans accept he?
Obviously the author is highly misinformed. Obama was the world's apologist. President Trump is no patsy for the world to take advantage of the U.S. And quite frankly I don't lose sleep worrying about what country like us or not; I prefer those countries to fear us.
6
@Jan What you are expressing is totalitarian logic, which falsely believes that fear equates to respect. We never could have rebuilt the west through the Marshall Plan with that attitude. And the rebuild helped the United States, too. This is what MAGA people cannot grasp. Totalitarians lost World War II and always lose in the end because the natural desire of people is to be free.
10
@Jan. The issue is not other countries liking us, it is other countries respecting and being able to trust us. With an unstable administration such as our current one, that is not going to happen. You do know fear and respect are not the same, correct?
3
I'm afraid the whole premise of this opinion piece is based on an increasingly false assumption, which is that the international community depends on or, indeed, cares about the image or predominance of the U.S..
It's clear from recent international events that the rest of the world is moving on from the post WWII paradigm. We like to pat ourselves on the back and continue to believe we are a beacon of hope or that we are the protectors of democracy, yet, we are instead turning inward and we can hardly claim that our political process is "democratic."
The current administration is partly to blame; however, the president has merely activated an isolationism and xenophobia that was already present.
6
The Democrats must go for the jugular and fight fire with fire. They couldn't during the past two years, but now they have the means to do so.
Repairing America's image abroad will be achieved, not by checking Trump, but by getting rid of him, and preferably by incarcerating him as the South Koreans did with their corrupt president.
4
The way to begin the healing process is to demonstrate to the world, friend and foe alike, that political and amoral actions are annswerable to the people. Trump, his family, and his abettors must be held accountable. They must face strict charges, and if found guilty, must serve long incarcerations. Time to make an example of this cowardly congregation of grifters and conmen. Let it be known to any future dictator wannabe, that their actions will result in like results. This could be a first step in restoring our country's respect in the eyes of the world.
5
Ben Rhodes must have a short memory, no sense of irony, or both. He and Jake Sullivan write that "Democrats should send a clear message to the world that we stand by our allies and our democratic values." Yet Ben Rhodes worked assiduously to undermine Israel when Israel (the only democracy in the Middle East) opposed the Obama Administration's policies toward Iran, and then bragged loudly about it.
8
@Michael N. Alexander
This is nonsense. The American political dialogue needs to dispel the notion that anything less that sycophancy to Likud is 'undermining' Israel. The Obama administration did as much as any previous administration to keep the Israeli establishment satisfied, especially after the Iran deal. This is perhaps (ironically) best illustrated by the Onion's prescient but satirical 2015 headline 'U.S. Soothes Upset Netanyahu With Shipment Of Ballistic Missiles', written days before Haaretz reported the same as fact.
Regardless, it is no longer appropriate to consider Israel the only democracy in the Middle East because (i) its neighbours Lebanon and Jordan have (deeply flawed but) increasingly liberal, democratic systems and (ii) Israel can only be considered a democracy if we are to ignore the fact that the IDF maintains de facto control over Palestine, exercising arbitrary powers over the population and controlling vital resource supply without democratic input from the governed, all while systemically violating and abusing democratic and human rights.
2
Ben Rhodes, along with Samantha Power and Susan Rice, were a triumvirate of incompetency that reduced American influence globally. They brilliantly reflected their feckless Commander in Chief, who was viewed as a naive and spineless academician by his more aggressive opponents in Moscow and Beijing. That the Times Editorial Page gives him any platform demonstrates that liberals have learned nothing from the three dimensional foreign policy failure that was the Obama Administration. Elsewhere in these pages two Times reporters detail the military rise of China, especially in the South China Sea. President Obama barely challenged this, and deliberated endlessly over sending ships past disputed islands. The present Administration does so weekly, and has enlisted allies like Australia to do the same now that the US has shown fortitude instead of
foolishness. Ben Rhodes is a cruel joke.
12
Well sure. Mom, Pop, and apple Pie — and the kitchen sink in less.
Glad you all got that off your collective chest.
First priority for the Democratic majority in the House: credible governance, genuine service to country, and integrity.
3
Jake, you may want to upgrade your bio on this article to remind people that you were one of the chief liaisons/negotiators between Hillary Clinton's State Department and Iran who helped negotiate the Iran Nuclear Treaty. And that you were perhaps one of the top 5 advisors to her on her campaign staff. You're brilliant, but hardly unbiased.
3
It is true that Congress can only do so much to limit, let alone reverse, the travesties being committed by the charlatan-in-chief as he runs roughshod over everything decent that this country is supposed to stand for. Whatever can be done to obstruct a president run amok should be done post haste. As I've said from Election Day onward, "gridlock is better than no lock" especially on the current occupant of the White House. What I am really looking forward to and hoping for, once he's expelled from 7900 Pennsylvania Avenue, is an in-depth investigation not only on his collusion with Russia but his entire finances and his use of the presidency for outrageous personal gain and conflict-of-interest between his official role and private investments to such an extent as would make most tin-pot dictators green with envy. As he has given the decent people of this country these past 2 long years, so do I pray that many sleepless nights are in store for him, a man who has defiled the office which an ignorant electorate voted to install him into.
4
@ManhattanWilliam correction: 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, of course.
Truth be told, Trump's international policy is a train wreck. He doesn't understand international policy. Trump believes he is engaging in one-on-one business negotiations with other national leaders. Autocrats, dictators, and humans rights abusers are mostly willing to engage Trump on this plain. They consistently make him a fool on the international stage. You don't get to be a autocratic ruler acting like a half-muddled city boy without a clue. Trump is an autocrat's fool and he praises them for the peanuts they throw.
Western nations have a much harder time handling Trump. He's not smart enough to realize elected leaders are not supreme rulers within their domain. Even if Europe or Canada wanted to have one-on-one negotiations with Trump, which they don't, their leaders are still constrained. Flummoxed, Trump acts out both unilaterally on policy while adding personal insult to the mix.
I'd like Democrats to draw attention to just how bad Trump is on international policy. He is really, really bad. However, I'm not sure there's very much they can accomplish. War hawk conservatives are really the ones who should take Trump to task. The man is dangerous. Even today, the war between Ukraine and Russia has flared up again. What does America hear from Trump or the Republican Congress? Crickets.
2
The most important way to protect our nation from our worst enemy - the enemy within- is to restore voting rights, abolish gerrymandering, and get corporate money out of our electoral system. Until then, ultra-right wing forces will continue to rule this nation with an iron fist. Trump idiotic blundering and gross incompetence is a sickening symptom, not the cause of our current political crisis.
5
@jefflz
Agree -- And I'd like to add getting rid of the Electoral College to that list.
1
@N. Smith
The Electoral College will never be changed because too many states have a vested interest in maintaining it.
And to jefflz, money in our elections is no longer a serious issue. In 2016 with nearly $two billion raised, mainly in small contributions, the Democrats easily matched the GOP.
Voting rights have been impaired (i.e., must be restored) in only a few states which tend to vote Republican anyway.
The way to protect our nation is for the Democrats to be better organized at every level. They have been in my state and we are 100% blue -- both Senators, all five Congressmen, all statewide offices including Governor, and state house and senate. It takes work and organization and leadership.
1
You mean advance the "Peoples" agenda?
What's "reckless"--telling the EU to cover their share of defense?
What's "image" worth when your southern border is being overrun?
Please.
You want "reckless"--try the Johnson and Bush-Cheney years.
You want irresponsible and reprehensible, try Obama's four years of Hillary extorting money, basement server, and cutting deals with the Kremlin for Bill's 500K speech.
You want criminal--try the Bush-Cheney CIA lie and Obama's use of Comey-Lynch for Hillary's "the matter" and the FBI-FISA to spy on American citizens at will.
8
So basically, whine and oppose the President.
3
@Carlos Gonzalez
No. Because just whining and opposing the president didn't win the Democrats the House -- taking action did.
2
"phantom migrant threat invented to rally his base before the midterm elections."
Unbelievable. Tijuana has already declared a humanitarian crisis. Are you saying the videos of migrants storming the border and throwing rocks is a phantom?
No wonder your team lost.
7
It will be quite a while before the world, and particularly our traditional allies, will forget that we elected this psychopath, Trump, as POTUS. Meanwhile, why would anyone trust us?
2
We must first repair our image of each other, and our own country in our own eyes. Trump's campaign and winning election was based entirely on " we ain't what we used to be".He is right, but we have never been what we thought we were and Trump is the prime example. As we peel the onion Trump is what has appeared. Do we dare go any deeper? What do we want and what do we really believe? It doesn't look pretty and the world has a much clearer look at what has been put forward as our past greatness and our current 'victimhood'. And it seems we couldn't care less.
9
I agree with the strategy but I fear that The Post Trump Reconstruction" will take years, nationally (internal) and globally (external). It is going to be especially expensive too.
2
As an expat non-American who has lived in Asia, the Middle East, and now Africa, I am sad to say I concur with Michel L. That boat has sailed. What is undone by post-Trump America can be done again by a new Trump. America's allies have learned that trust in the US is a bit hollow - and after Trump, how does his successor restock the State Department with experienced hands, fill the government with experienced, ethical people who's sole claim to fame isn't being a Republican Trumpite apparatchik? It's like watching a loved one slowly fade - but Trump has hastened the fading and the American public has enabled it by squabbling among themselves when they really should have been rebuilding their house.
11
To help pay for programs and infrastructure the Democrats should propose raising the tax on corporations and wealthy individuals to 28%.
9
@Don Ha.. "Deja Vu All Over Again"
1
It's child's play to destroy. Takes no skill or intelligence.
It will take years to restore the social systems WE THE PEOPLE - 99.9% of us - have enjoyed since Teddy/FDR/Elanor Roosevelt set OUR United States of America on a Socially Conscious path fora ALL Americans. Democrats and socially conscious republicans built on and improved the social systems until Nixon/Reagan.
WE THE PEOPLE must not expect miracles. WE must tell OUR hired/elected officials what WE want - what kind of world WE want to live in - and DEMAND that they pass laws and regulations to make it so. WE must keep eagle eyes on them to make sure they're doing the jobs WE hired/elected them to do.
It will not happen overnight. Democracy is not a spectator sport. It's up to every single one of us to speak up and protect the things we hold most dear about the prosperity and relative peace WE have enjoyed since WWII. WE must not let the Robber Barons take charge again. Not now. Not ever.
34
The fact that these two guys were senior foreign policy officials in the Obama administration explains a lot about its shortcomings.
Let's start with a fundamental reality check: relationships between nations are about money and power, period. An occasional journalist who is a citizen of an autocratic regime and likes to be thorn in said regime's side getting ground up, while unfortunate, is largely irrelevant when it comes to realpolitik. This is as it should be - the US is not there to guarantee good moral acting by sovereign nations. Similarly, the net cost (profit lost + cost to our Saudi relationship) of walking away from Yemen is too high. What do we get for this loss?
Another reality check: The Democrats now have one power, and one power only. They can complain. That's it. No Democratic legislation will get passed by the Senate or signed by Trump. There is no credible threat of impeachment and removal from office for Trump (if anything, the attempt would assure him reelection in 2020). Any investigating the Democrats do will get stonewalled and characterized as witch hunting, again helping the Republicans in 2020. Sorry, but winning the House is winning the ability to whine.
12
@QED
A bit harsh but probably right. Trump may surprise us again and find compromise. As far as law suits, subpeonas, etc. it’s worth remembering that Trump has been involved in more law suits than Adam Schiff has had hot dinners.
8
@QED, hide and watch.
You may be surprised.
2
@QED said "US is not there to ensure good moral acting (sic) by sovereign nations..."
Comment: Spoken by one of the accused at Nuremberg, right?? Or, by someone voting No to the creation of Nato BY the USA. Or, to the Nato intervention on behalf of the USA after 9/11.
4
Lots and lots of damage to repair. Repubs will need to help. What will it take for them to wake up?
4
It's not enough to sheepishly hang our heads in shame when other Western countries look at us disbelievingly. They know -- and we know -- In a sane society, Trump, his allies and his family would all be in prison.
74
I agree with much of the piece but with only one of the two houses of Congress in hand the Democrats can do little but obstruct. (Thank you Republicans for showing the way on this!) The article repeatedly says things like “Congress can...”. Does anyone seriously think Mitch McConnell will allow anything remotely counter to Trumps wishes? He has chosen Trump’s interests over the country’s repeatedly. It takes both houses of Congress to accomplish anything but gridlock.
11
"Second, Democrats should challenge the president on his approach to the “forever war.”"
What a joke. The "forever war" in Afghanistan was cemented into place by the Obama administration by its refusal to withdraw troops even after the mission of killing Osama bin Laden was accomplished. Rhodes and Sullivan were among its architects and are thus to blame for the situation we are in today. Period.
12
@mpound
Not quite. When the Russians bailed out of Afghanistan in 1989 the 1st Bush administration walked away and the country went to hell, ensuring the rise of the Taliban. The second Bush administration nailed the coffin shut when they pulled resources from Afghanistan to start the war in Iraq. Period.
So the assumption is that the GOP Senate will eventually be too embarrassed to act like Trump's court jesters once the emperor has no US-made clothes and is known by all to be in violatoin of the emoluments clause, as well as compromised (willingly) by Russians and Saudis.
Wouldn't they need to actually HAVE a sense of decency and shame, though?
18
All of this is good. How about a living wage and a roof over our heads for the 100 million of us who are swept under the rug and forgotten?
9
re: "First, Democrats should send a clear message to the world that we stand by our allies and our democratic values."
You can skip this step. Most of this know that a dent in the hood ornament is no reason to throw away the car. Hang in there America.
9
@Steve Williams
Thank you for your understanding and support. Most Americans value and love our Canadian neighbors!
1
Why do we insist that Government oversight of Trumpenstein will work?
Trumplandia is in it's own bubble and is impervious to external influences.
Oversight?
How do you exert oversight on a WHITEhouse that has no domestic policies that extend beyond making more money; how do you have oversight over foreign policy so myopic that our biggest issue is using the US Armed forces against poor people looking to escape extermination?
Hold foreign powers to account for murder? for interfering in our democracy? for lying and building weaponry to assault our west coast?
Our government no longer works - it is no longer accountable to we the people. Scalia and Citizens United destroyed checks and balances. Now checks made out as political contributions are the only balance left in our system.
14
We deserve an active House for the improvement of our international image while braking the GOP assault on our democracy and republic.
4
If only the Dems -- and the innumerable Dem wanna-be presidential candidates -- would follow the sage advice of these two discredited politicos. Their recipe is Obama's lead-from-behind non-policies, which would be soundly rejected by the voters in 2020.
But it is good to hear that, once again, Dems are going to try to conduct foreign policy from the House. Right after she became Speaker in 2006, Pelosi went abroad to meet with -- President Assad! Predictably, she pronounced him a wonderful man and a peacemaker. Brilliant, Nancy!
6
“The Americans are what they are, I know,” Helmut Schmidt once sighed, “but they are the only Americans we have.”
3
Amnesia is not a side effect of the metastasizing cancer of trumpism. Trump's unending assaults upon decency and our most cherished myths about ourselves and our country do not somehow make George Bush Jr. or Obama better or more "virtuous" presidents in retrospect.
It was Obama who gave a free pass to Bush-era torturers and Wall Street thieves; Obama who began large-scale deportation of immigrants; Obama who first helped Saudis kill and starve tens of thousands of innocents in Yemen; Obama who approved and routinely utilized a covert drone assassination program, and Obama who was quite willing to infringe upon First Amendment protections in his reckless pursuit of "leakers." For starters.
3
A modest proposal: Let's decide who and what we are-and be honest a straightforward about it. Is immigration over?-except for the politically well connected and the rich and well educated? OK, then let's take down that plaque on the Statue of Liberty. You know "Give us your tired, your poor...huddled masses, yearning to be free" etc. How about "Give us your rich, your well educated, and those politically well connected. Above all, give us your oil and your purchase orders for weapons of mass destruction, and then we promise, even if your people destroy a few planes, and buildings, even if they kill a few thousand of our citizens, we will spirit them out of the country and they, unlike those pesky journalists will be free to plot again." Of course the most honest course would be to melt it down or ship it back to France. Truly, we don't need it any more.
12
This piece is virtually total nonsense. We get it. You don’t like Trump and you will do or say anything to show it. Try for it in 2020.
5
First we need a new Constitution. One with teeth to stop our own would be dictators and warmongers in their tracks.
3
@Tony Reardon
Let's take first thing first. And that doesn't necessarily mean getting a "new Constitution" as much as restoring the checks and balances system that was originally built into our government -- something that is now possible with the Democrats in the House.
1
As long as we let Slave State Conservatives (Neo-Confederates) lead the country, and allow them to support Trump in their Culture War ( we once called in the Civil War), America will continue to loose it's standing in the world.
Hate-filled white Southern Conservatives have brought us the Civil War, the KKK, lynchings, Jim Crow laws,and ignorance. The poorest and most poorly educated of any of the states are all in the deep South, where their lack of education has become badge of honor.
Slave State Conservatives worship guns, and believe like Dylann Roof, the NRA and Timothy McVeigh that violence is always an option.
Let's start by illuminating the problem where it began, the attack on Ft Sumter, and go from thee.
7
"Democrats must be vigilant in checking military adventurism abroad."
Trump and his fellow chicken-hawks are itching to go to war with Iran.
3
"..cozying up to President Vladimir Putin of Russia .."
Are you referring to the sanctions he imposed?
3
@LMJr
Congress imposed the sanctions over the objections of Trump. He has yet to truly enforce them.
2
@Steve K
Not so. Congress gave administration the power but Trump and Mnuchen picked the targets and timing under the power.
The only thing that will repair our reputation as well as it can be repaired is to arrest former president George W Bush, Dick Cheney, Gina Haspel, Roberto Gonzales, Jon Yoo, and the rest of the criminals who helped that administration perpetrate the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes they committed.
Everything else will fall into place including a cooling off of the wars they started once the world sees that the adults are in charge again over here.
1
I agree with the article points, but do the Dems have enough moxie to oppose and after this slug?
1
Obama signed up for trillions in nuclear modernization and continued the "Forever War" that Rhodes and Sullivan now decry. Where were they then?
10
@John lurher
The difference between Obama signing up trillions in nuclear modernization and Donald Trump lies in the fact that with the Obama administration there was actually a thing called "DIPLOMACY" and a strategic Foreign Policy. Plus he didn't go around insulting other countries and their leaders, itching for a fight.
1
Sorry, but Trump simply needs to be defeated before we can let the healing begin. And, in order to defeat Trump. the Democrats will need to build more than a cogent argument based upon facts-- something his supporters don't need nor want. Democrats will need to build a case similarly based on pathos. Trump has the master-manipulator characteristics of the deeply pathological which works really well with a sizable voting demographic. He's convinced people that they're doing better by cherry-picking things that are optimistic for a fleeting moment-- like a jobs report-- and conflating that with the positive feeling his supporters get when he attacks or attempts to disempower "the other".
In order for the Democrats to be able to win anything, they are going to need to stop with the neoliberal kowtowing and remember what they are really about. Then, perhaps they can "go high" and pull voters up with them and out of the muck. Perhaps at that point we will be able to restore some credibility and trust.
4
Lots of healthy, unrealistic ideas from the failed Democrats past. At least Trump had some ideas on foreign policy like reducing the wars, bringing troops home, and reducing military expenses. We don't know if he lied or discovered some of Washington's ugly realities and couldn't, but the Democrats, fresh from the Hillary/Obama/CIA disasters rarely so much as breathed a word about foreign policy.
Millions of us didn't vote for Hillary, because we realized she was instrumental in the Bush follow-up Middle East disasters. We abstained or voted Green.
None of the hot new or tired old potential candidates talks about the world that is burning up thanks to us. There's not a fireman in the crowd. I was a Bernie supporter until I realized he had zero foreign policy. Nor did Warren or Biden. Hillary's foreign policy knowledge consisted of getting photo ops for her presidential bid and she was a war hawk to the right of Trump with a record to prove it.
The only realistic hope might be Bloomberg.
All of these cute new talkers from Ocasio-Cortez to Beto remind me of Obama in 2008 - oratorical highs, full of wishful thinking and promises, and with zero foreign affairs know-how to carry the promises out. Perhaps that's why they don't talk about it. Perhaps they expect to turn to the "experienced experts" of the Obama administration.
We're like living in the middle of Paradise, CA watching the fire from a lounge chair.
2
It it's too late. The remainder of the world has seen us naked and they know we no longer can be relied on.
Trump has exposed us for what we are. We are a group of self-centered citizens fighting amongst ourselves only looking out for our self interest.
4
"This is especially vital at a moment when Russia and China are offering the world an alternative, authoritarian path."
What utter nonsense. The moment China began its alternative, authoritarian path was during the Obama Administration, when it began militarizing the South China Sea and when Mr. Xi seized power and appointed himself Chairman-For-Life. That administration and Congress did nothing. As for Putin, his authoritarian streak began even before Obama.
Trump is simply playing the hand he was dealt. It is a lousy hand, and the authors clearly disagree with his choices, but Congress (Democrats and Republicans) did nothing to steer his predecessors in the path that the authors now advocate.
1
Actually the Chinese have been authoritarian for 4000 years.
It hurts to rain on such hope and optimism, but America has to face reality: it’s too late. The damage to your international reputation cannot be repaired. We know that you are deeply, irreconcilably divided, that every responsible policy choice one side makes will be undone by the other. The world has lost confidence in the Pax Americana and so it will perish, as all empires do. We who live outside your borders are not gloating — indeed we are terrified of the chaos to come. But we can’t wish it away.
121
@Michel L.
Are we that divided? Yes, people voted for Trump, but remember, it’s human nature to just double down, rather than admit you were wrong. And, the wedge issues, abortion and guns, rarely affect anyone. Giving tax breaks to the wealthy and huge corporations will eventually bring rural Republicans some genuine insight to their weak decision. Everything else, we agree, and there is a lot. The discord and divisiveness is exploited by the Republican leadership because it works for them, by driving voters to the polls on an emotional level. People vote emotionally, mostly out of fear.
6
@Michel L. With all due respect, Canada is a once-great country that is rapidly descending into its own abyss. Free speech—more important to liberty than almost any other right of a people is a politically correct, tragic joke in Canada. And you have a leader elected because of his last name, his looks and a let’s all feel good approach to policy that does not work in the real world. He learned that as soon as illegals started entering Canada and took a Trumpian hard line approach. And some Canadians don’t like the Nationalist title but are Nationalists nonetheless. I recall how Canada changed the nature and reduced the quality of the Stratford Festival (of which I was a long time American member) by requiring a much larger number of Canadians to be cast in the plays. Goodbye Maggie Smith and other Brits and Americans. I still love Canada, but the pot is calling the kettle black if you think Trump has ruined our international reputation.
3
@Michel L.
This sad American tends to agree. We have been somewhat arrogant (or naive) to believe that our democracy could not die. That's what the checks and balances are for. But when those do not function properly (hello Republicans), then there is no guarantee.
12
US Govt, specifically foreign service, must take a more active roll to address declining social mobility and rise of crony capitalism in the world. American (rather, western) appeasement of highly corrupt "elites" (mainly businessmen & politicians) from most developing countries like Russia, India, China, Arab World etc need to be minimized.
The world now has 2,043 billionaires, after a new one emerged every two days in the past year. The group of mostly men saw its wealth surge by $762 billion, which is enough money to end extreme poverty seven times over, according to Oxfam. USA lead the numbers of billionaires followed by China, Russia, & India. It's more interesting to note that none of these three countries (India, China, Russia) had a single dollar Billionaire even as late as 1980s.
Failing American democracy and rise of crony capitalism even in a country like USA serving as a model for those utterly corrupt and politically influential billionaires and aspiring millionaires in the developing world. Utter corrupt & morally bankrupt children of the 'elites' from the developing countries are flocking to USA to buy degrees here. They r learning our corporate ways to arm-twist democratic institutions & laws to make more money. Then many of them return to their home countries to join their family businesses. Now you can imagine what they would do in those rather lawless, in terms of corporate governance & democracy, countries like India, Russia, China, Middle East etc.
2
Democrats "new power" is limited to purse strings. The Senate and Presidency are still solidly Republican.
Trump was elected to undo the abuses and excesses of the progressive left agenda and of the Obama adminstration, including these two individuals.
Anyone who doesn't recall Ben Rhodes bragging about how he manipulated the media needs to brush up on their historical reading, and take everything he says for what it is: propaganda.
3
Trump and his evangelical male and female supporters have so little confidence in American ideals and in America itself that they believe it is pointless for America to have any foreign involvements.
They believe America First is the only policy and that anything else is folly
They do not believe the founding words of All Men Being Created is inspiring to the world. For that matter they don’t even believe these words are true - they believe in “originalist” thoughts that it only applies to white men.
They do not believe in Freedom of the Press - but rather that the press is the enemy of the people. They do not subscribe to Jefferson’s writing that he would prefer a free press and no government than the reverse
They do not believe in anything they do not hear from Trump or his mouth pieces on Fox news.
Until his people are convinced of the greatness of American ideals we’re fighting an uphill battle.
4
It's no longer a matter of "image", it's a matter of confidence. The past two years have destroyed any illusion that America stands firm in it's COMMITMENT to world order, economically, militarily or morally. The "image" can be cleaned up, we're pretty good at that.
But the belief that America stood by it's word regardless of transitory elections, is no longer valid. The American voter has shown itself capable of picking a politician that not only doesn't respect the majority of voters but doesn't respect the basic foundation of what America is. If we can do it once we can do it again.
Trump has made it clear that America CAN'T be trusted to lead the world ... that can not be repaired ... trust in American leadership is over and the world is moving on, with or without us, and it will NOT be under our "leadership" or guidance ... or under our terms.
6
So let me get this straight: when OBAMA lost more seats than this in 2010 and 2014....did that represent a rejection of his policies and hand that power away from the ELECTED PRESIDENT to the House of Representatives? Oh it didn't? so why would it be so for Trump?
7
I found myself agreeing with everything proposed UNTIL the subject of national security and defending the southern border was mentioned.
There are some well thought out items that should gain bipartisan traction. Just the same, CONGRESS needs to pass sensible immigration reform, provide the tools necessary to enforce those rules AND revisit/update on a set timeline.
Even as the U.S. becomes a majority minority country, without borders there wouldn't be 48 contiguous states.
There must be room to compromise and reach consensus.
2
The clearest message we could send abroad is to impeach Trump . That may not be politically possible at the moment but it is the right thing to do . The longer this man stays at the helm the greater the damage he does to the Country . If this man finish his first 4 years term , and much more clearly if he wins a second term , you can be sure the 21th Century will not be the American Century , in the same way the 20th Century was . We owe our children and grandchildren to try to transfer to them our great democracy intact . We have the means in the impeachment process and the 25th Amendment of the Constitution . The GOP politicians in Congress and the Administration know the man is unfit to lead the nation . But they know they need him to win elections so they become enablers . The Democrats may also become enablers trying to be too strategic . Everybody knows the man is utterly unfit to be President and that he is a clear and present danger to our Country and the whole World. . The worse is not what he has done already but what he may still do . We will have to answer History for our failure to act .
17
I heartily agree with all of the above. Getting Congress to step up and take a stand is another thing.
10
@Rupert Laumann
Yes, we have the 25th Amendment at our disposal for just this situation - crazy, unhinged Trump doing destruction to this country and our reputation.
Fortunately, the world blames Trump for most of the problems, but also blames the people for allowing it all to continue to happen.
Now, let's figure out how to get rid of him before he starts WW3.
8
@Rupert Laumann
It's not the House you should wonder about -- but the Republican Senate, which has made bowing to this president and high art of obstruction the main tenet of their platform.
8
Great ideas, but they are proposed without reference to what to do about the other greatest threat to our constitution and democratic processes: Mitch McConnell, who has forever ruined the manner of judicial appointments and who will likely refuse to bring needed legislation to the Senate floor for vote.
46
@JS from NC, perhaps. This is why Democratic House leadership should create and forward bills that are extremely simple, one issue at a time. Let McConnell block these and be seen as the man and party that won’t stand with the vast majority of Americans.
I think you mean Harry Reed.
This sounds great and all, but I doubt the Democrats will go for it. The current plan from the Democrats seems to be to fold like a wet paper towel, and then spend the 2020 election explaining how awful Trump is to people that already agree with them.
9
It is clear even without an announcement to the remainder of the world. The remainder of the world is on their own. We have abdicated the throne and its every country for themselves.
This new posture necessitates our allies to look elsewhere for leadership. This must happen even as Trump is removed from from office, which most likely occur in the next few months.
Europe must look towards moving towards a United Europe, for standing alone makes each country too volnerable to the behemoths of the globe including Russia, China and the United States. The same holds true for Africa.
7
"Congress can insist on greater transparency around American military deployments, forcing the administration to specify which terrorist organizations the United States is at war with and the military objectives."
Foreign adventures are *expensive*, the House can refuse to fund those that can't be justified. And "Well, we've been there since 2001, we can't just cut and run now" isn't a justification.
10
There is also a need to remove the aluminium and steel tariffs since Canada and Mexico are no longer security threats.
23
Like the many Americans who made their voices hears on Election Day, I think this is a change that couldn't come soon enough.
During his short tenure in office, Donald Trump has done more to isolate and vilify this country in the eyes of the world than any other president in recent history, and for reasons already too well known and established.
Not only has Mr. Trump managed to insult and alienate our immediate neighbors to the north and south with ridiculous threats and tariffs, but he has drawn a wedge between our allies and NATO members by making allegations that are often erroneous and lacking in any truth.
Our foreign policy is currently directed more by his personal whim than strategy and diplomacy, and the legislative process has been reduced to stealth, tweets and Executive Orders.
If anything, the incoming House Democrats will at least offer a return to the checks and balances system originally envisioned by Founding Fathers as a way to protect our government from the threat of tyranny and concentration of political power being held by one person, or one particular group.
It's only uncanny that recently this threat of tyranny has been coming from within our government -- and not from without.
20
@N. Smith. If he was a tyrant, the recent Climate report would not have been issued and the leftist protesters who disrupted the Kavanaugh hearings and confront conservatives in restaurants would be in jail. So many old stories describe the current, unhinged feeling-not-fact based beliefs of the left (boy who cried wolf, chicken little, etc).
2
@ehillesum
The fact that the Climate report was issued doesn't alter the fact that this country has basically been ruled by the one person who demands absolute loyalty to his person before country -- and who has essentially usurped the one political party that's in control of all three branches of government.
There.
Hopefully, I fixed that for you.
1
Last I heard the GOP, Ghastly Oily Patriarchs, were in charge of the Senate. What makes these authors think that they will cooperate in holding Trump, his family, or his associates accountable for anything? Further, the Democrats are not noted for their ability to stand up under pressure. The GOP may be thin skinned but the Democrats don't seem to know how to take advantage of that to let Americans and the world know that what is going on should not be considered business as usual.
39
@hen3ry: The House can investigate and provide oversight on their own, Senate approval isn't required. And remember, all spending bills have to originate in the House, all they need do is close the pursestrings.
They can, but will they? Now, that's a good question.
29
It would seem the authors have forgotten that the Senate is still firmly in Republican hands. They repeatedly say Congress when they mean or should mean the House. There is zero evidence that the Senate has any interest in this agenda. On it's own the House have very little power in this area.
8
@Todd: They might not have the power to force things to happen, but closing the pursestrings is a pretty effective veto on things that shouldn't happen.
11
The authors of the article are architects of America's decline and China's rise in the last administration. Their policy proposals will further undermine American interest and liberal democracies. Their policies are the reason why Europe is in stress now and Angela Merkel lost her clout. Trump administration's immigration policy, trade policy and military policy appear to be the right one to protect liberal democracies and confront Chinese expansionist tendencies. If we stick with dogmatic liberal policies of the past, it will doom us.
17
@Alex E you must be kidding me? Immigration policy is not the issue, the treatment of those economies and the people trying to survive in them are producing the immigration policies this selfish administration is following. Rip children from their parents, asylum only after we jail them, threaten to chargre them with crimes and send them back to horrific conditions. Lets MAGA. Buzz off mate!
4
@Alex E Conversely, if we stick with dogmatic conservative policies of the past, it will also doom us. Think deficits (post-most republican presidencies), think the planet (climate change), think continual war (it seems that monthly we hear of new deaths of American soldiers in specific regions of the world where we had no idea soldiers where fighting). Is it possible that you would question the Trump administration on anything? Or are you being dogmatic?
6
So when a another unwanted war, possibly a third word war, breaks out due to the avoidance of "liberal policies" that have been in place since the end of the second World War, will you or your children go fight it?
2
America's image abroad will not be repaired by more dysfunction in government, which is what this article calls for.
14
@GBC1 I don't think more dysfunction in government is possible – though I've no doubt Trump will shortly prove me wrong.
7
@John B
Yes, I misspoke. The concern is continuing dysfunction, not more dysfunction.
2
Try 1840 to 1850.
How laughable to read about US "allies." We don't have any. We have a lot of DEPENDENTS: Europe, Saudi Arabia, Israel, S. Korea, Japan and others.
Especially Europe. For over a century the US has been supporting and defending Europe: WWI, WWII, Marshall Plan, NATO, cold war.
It would be nice if the NYT would report and publicize why the Europeans don't meet their very meager NATO spending targets. Time to end the US taxpayer gravy train. The Europeans might need to give up retirement at 60, six weeks vacation, state of the art trains and all the other goodies we have been subsidizing. But supporting Europeans is not the responsibility of the US taxpayer.
21
@Reader In Wash, DC
So you think all the Europeans have their “goodies” because America pays for it? Why the sudden hostility toward allies? Europeans are also paying higher taxes and see their societies as systems of fairness, where everyone contributes and also benefits from it. It is a different attitude.
29
@Reader What a strange perspective you have. I'm sure that all of the "takers" you mention can and will stand up quite well without the help of the U.S. which is teetering on real decay. The stock market is doing well here, but everyone else is driving for Uber, flipping burgers and going deep into personal debt.
Only an American could have such a egocentric position in the complicated world we now find ourselves.
22
@Reader In Wash, DC Your belief that Europe isn't capable of defending itself is extremely incorrect: If they combine their forces, as they've already made efforts to do, they have a couple million troops, several thousand modern fighting vehicles, a substantial navy (especially if the UK helps out), hundreds of modern military aircraft, and a substantial nuclear force if they ever needed it. And no, they don't just have that stuff because the US gave it to them: Most of the materiel was manufactured by the Europeans and the French in particular. For instance, if the Russians decided to launch an all-out attack westward, they would lose, and lose badly.
French president Emmanuel Macron has been making a push for the EU nations to basically ignore NATO and work on their own collective defense without the US's involvement.
10
There is no meaningful partisan political chance that any of these things will ever happen in Donald Trump's America.
Before Saudi Arabia and Egypt, Israel is America's most worthless immoral costly "ally". Egypt, Israel and Saudi Arabia regularly and routinely act contrary to American interests and values.
With" friends" like this triumvirate axis of evil America does not need any strategic foes like China and Russia. American foreign policy is made by the President of the United States without the advice and consent of the House of Representatives.
35
A hearty laugh is all I can summon in response to this op-ed. Maybe the authors can start a new career writing children's books. Congress and foreign policy, why not? Well, there is the inconvenience of a written constitution but then that was never a real impediment in the Obama administration.
18
@Ishmael Mauthausen
Former President Obama TAUGHT constitutional law.
Donald Trump hasn't even read the constitution.
This morning his tweets were incredulous at the suggestion that Russians were anywhere in sight during his campaign, so he has also proven that he didn't even read the 13 indictments involving Russians who actually had a hand in organizing quite a few of them.
28
@Ishmael Mauthausen
Former President Obama TAUGHT constitutional law.
Donald Trump hasn't even read the constitution.
This morning his tweets were incredulous at the suggestion that Russians were anywhere in sight during his campaign rallies, so he has also proven that he didn't even read the 13 indictments involving Russians who actually had a hand in organizing quite a few of his rallies.
5
@Ishmael Mauthausen Your comment is a bit of a word salad, mocking congressional authority in foreign policy while ambiguously referencing the Constitution and then gratuitously attacking Obama. Among other things, the Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war, a power Congress has abdicated for decades. Restoring that alone would be a major accomplishment.
9
Impeachment might be a good start.
48
@Peter Fitzgerald
Defenestration is quicker and more definitive.
3
This is the narrative which must be continued; not only by
the Democratic majority in the US House of Representatives;
but by The New York Times...and I will say...'allies of The New
York Times....because it is the Media...the print media as well
as the internet and especially Cable News shows...yes 'news
shows'....which narrate their 'take' on actual news....
Actual news or perhaps Associated Press news which is 'translated' by cable news....must reflect responsibly what
has happened in our government....
News as had once so responsibly delivered in radio broadcasts
by E.R Morrow etc......All the News That is Fit to Print...should be
All The News Which is Fit to be Heard on today's
'News ...Shows'.....keep in mind....commenters like me are usually
not well informed by news translated by either Fox or CNN.
4
Yessssssssss !
4
Perhaps our current rifts with our allies can be healed, but the scars will be slow to fade. The American people acted credulously when they elected Donald Trump, and our allies will not forget that.
196
@Art Likely, I'll write it over and over again.
The American people elected Hillary Clinton. She won by approximately 3.7 million votes - a wide margin of popular votes in fact. There is no mandate from the American people to further Trump's agenda. The electoral college put Trump in the oval.
142
@Art Likely
It was the electoral college. The "American people" voted for the other candidate. She won the popular vote by the widest margin in recorded U.S. history.
So, please.
Stop. "The American People" my eye.
93
@Art Likely Americans didn't elect Trump, the Electoral College did. Federalists didn't believe our new government required a bill of rights and supported the EC, a collection of demigods Thomas Jefferson warned us about when he and others insisted Americans needed a bill of rights as a legal check against corrupt legislators who admired tyrants and monarchs.
40
It’s easy to forget Trump’s atrocious tally of wrong-headed moves until you read the list in an article like this. Each day brings some alarming and more outrageous action, so that a cloak of distraction is thrown over the extent to which he may be quietly enriching himself and his family at the expense of the nation.
If he is prepared to openly defy legitimate world views on climate change, humanitarian rights and a free global trade system, imagine what is going on behind the scenes with regard to his finances.
When his time has passed, and after he has fully reimbursed the US Treasury, I hope that the Trump name has become so tainted that no human being will check into one of his garish establishments, and that every building will be liberated from that five-letter word.
142
"Second, Democrats should challenge the president on his approach to the “forever war.”
Not to defend Trump, but "forever war" has been America's chief export since the 1950's.
44
Pretty unfortunate timing of this piece, given that federal agents are currently firing teargas at migrants across our southern border into the territory of a sovereign nation.
51
@Vin if Mexico was behaving as a sovereign nation, it would never have allowed the hoards to cross their southern border--only to try crashing ours.
3
@Vin Actually, that makes the timing of this piece all the more relevant.
2
@Jesse The Conservative
"Hoards"?
Migrants have been traveling by foot for centuries.
YOUR southern border?
So tell me, Jesse, which indigenous people of the Southeast does your family come from.
1