Menu
Paynal © 2008
Donald Trumps Foreign Policy Strategy Is All About the 2020 Elections by Federico Pieraccini!
(2019-10-22 at 10:34:14 )
Donald Trumps Foreign Policy Strategy Is All About the 2020 Elections by Federico Pieraccini
Washington,D.C.s official announcement of the withdrawal of United States troops from the northeast of Syria has provoked alarm and condemnation at home as well as from Washington,D.C.s allies.
However, it is easier to understand the actions and aims of the Donald Trump administration when one analyzes events in the light of an internal clash within the United States deep state.
Before looking into the United States withdrawal from protecting the SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces) Kurds, it is worth considering what has been happening in the United States in recent days to get a better picture.
The Democratic party has officially requested the impeachment of Donald Trump for allegedly pressuring the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, to investigate the possible corrupt actions of Joe Bidens son Hunter Biden while the latter was in Ukraine.
The allegation against President Trump arose as a result of a report written on August 12 by an anonymous Central Intelligence Agency agent with access to many White House employees and officials.
The report is probably another russia-gate hoax, this time President Trump allegedly asked his Ukrainian counterpart to begin an investigation into Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, who was a former member of a Ukrainian company that ended up the subject of a corruption investigation. The anonymous informant made himself available to testify before a Congressional committee behind closed doors.
As if to further confirm an ongoing civil war within the United States deep state, a second whistleblower has made more "revelations" about the phone call between Trump and Zelensky. Many identify this person in John Bolton, recently fired by Trump. Bolton was disappointed with Trumps lackluster enthusiasm for war.
The Democratic Party, currently in the process of selecting their candidate to contest the 2020 presidential election, has been forced to pursue the strategy of impeachment even as it enjoys little prospect for success given that the Republicans hold the majority in the Senate. Polls, moreover, show that the majority of United States of Americans are opposed to impeachment in general.
The closer we get to the elections, the more the Democrats will feel the need to pander to their most extreme elements in the interests of winning over delegates in the primaries. This has prompted President Trump to go all out against those members of the deep state aligned with the Democratic Party.
As I have previously written, President Trumps threats always have a deeper goal. Let us take a look at some previous behaviors of Donald Trump.
A typical example is the United States threat to withdraw from NATO. The threat was never acted upon, because NATO members were accordingly startled into increasing their military budgets as President Trump had demanded. Washington,D.C.s strong alliance with Riyadh, furthermore, has brought positive returns for United States of Americas arms sales.
We can therefore see how Donald Trumps threats to NATO served the purposes of improving the bottom line of the United States of Americas military-industrial complex. These arms manufacturers supported Donald Trumps electoral campaign and, because he is bringing home big money for them, they are bound to support him again in his 2020 bid.
President Trumps threat to leave NATO was never real, but the shakedown worked, forcing European allies to hand over their cash to United States arms manufacturers, the various components of the deep state coordinating with the administration to ensure a positive outcome for relevant stakeholders.
President Trump well understands that he will receive loud censure and obloquy if he deviates too much from the foreign policy charted by Washington,D.C.s true policy-makers, and so seems to understand that there is a big difference between what he is able to say and what he is able to actually do.
President Trump only has short-term objectives in mind, the 2020 elections currently being foremost in his mind.
We can observe a method to his madness with relation to Iran and North Korea. First he threatens these countries with complete destruction, then (knowing that a total war against Iran and North Korea would be impossible to sustain) tries to establish a direct dialogue with the leaders of these countries - only to be rewarded with a photo opportunity that will be most useful in the upcoming electoral campaign.
President Trumps strategy nevertheless failed when Rouhani called his bluff and decided not to meet with him in New York at the conclusion of this years meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, robbing him of the much-sought photo opportunity.
Similarly, talks between Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump have not yielded much progress.
President Trumps modus operandi explains his willingness to meet with people normally considered by United States of American exceptionalism to be beyond the pale.
President Trump views foreign policy less in terms of grand strategy and more in terms of electioneering and personal gain, giving little consideration to the long-term consequences for the United States.
A striking example of this short-term thinking is President Trumps withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear deal, fulfilling an electoral promise and winning points with his electoral base - but greatly reducing the level of influence the United States may have on Iranian policy.
Similarly, negotiations with North Korea confirmed that the United States has no military solution for Pyongyang, especially when seeking to preserve relations with South Korea and Japan.
As with a war with Iran, the United States allies would be the ones on the receiving end of most of the blows, something that Japan, South Korea, Israel and Saudi Arabia would never countenance.
These countries, accordingly to a multipolar environment, are bound sooner or later to come to arrangements with Tehran and Pyongyang, leaving the United States even more isolated in the region.
When meeting with Kim Jong-un, President Trump sought a historical photo-op that would present him in sharp contrast to his predecessors. That said, the talks foundered on the absurd United States of American demands for the North Koreans to first complete disarmament before sanctions could be removed.
While President Trump, not being in control of his foreign policy, can decide and propose very little, he can nevertheless try and get the most mileage from his "foreign policy" for the purposes of burnishing his image with an eye to the 2020 presidential election.
Once we understand that President Trumps foreign policy is only for domestic purposes, we see how the agenda of United States imperialism remains quite undisturbed, with the deep state continuing to seek geopolitical expansion and start new wars or fuel existing ones.
Reprinted here from the "Strategic Culture Foundation" provides a platform for exclusive analysis, research and policy comment on Eurasian and global affairs. We are covering political, economic, social and security issues worldwide. Since 2005 our journal has published thousands of analytical briefs and commentaries with the unique perspective of independent contributors. SCF works to broaden and diversify expert discussion by focusing on hidden aspects of international politics and unconventional thinking. Benefiting from the expanding power of the Internet, we work to spread reliable information, critical thought and progressive ideas.