Progressive Monopoly on Foreign Policy Virtue? Or Inanity? Posted by David Shorr

In response to my Friday post on what distinguishes progressive and conservative foreign policy approaches, commenter Huitzil charged me with being overly harsh and simplistic in my characterization of conservatives. Pointing toward my calling the right-wing approach "lazy" because of its emphasis on making demands of others, rather than hashing out mutually agreeable solutions, Huitzil replied:

This is just silly. It's just a lukewarm demonization of the opponent. It's therefore just a short step for you to arrive at true demonization. Why not just go all-out and call the "right" "capitalist running dogs," "kulaks," or whatever? Why even bother to analyze anything when you say you know that the "right wing" is lazy, "zero sum," and otherwise unworthy of any serious thought?

And then quoting my 20-words-or-less version of foreign policy progressivism:

It doesn't matter that you love to preen about your desire for world peace, or "working together with others to address problems, reduce conflict and abuse, and increase peace, prosperity, and empowerment. (your bold)" That's just fluff. As much as you pride yourself on your enlightened morality, it sounds no different than the candidates for Homecoming Queen saying they want to work for world peace. At least they're beauties and they're just in High School. What's your excuse?

So according to Huitzil's reading, I have:  linked conservatives to the devil, surrounded progressives with angels, and in doing so, presented ideas that are nothing more than inane moralistic fluff. To start with, I will readily admit that my recent posts on these themes are a two-dimensional caricature of foreign policy conservatives. As harsh as they are, however, they are a completely fair characterization of the critique that Right's leading lights have been offering -- very loudly and with drumbeat repitition.

I'll say it for the Nth time, I am eager to engage in the kind of cordial, healthy, open-minded debate that Huitzil calls for. As I see it, though, the lines of the argument coming from the right call for firm rebuttal, rather than reasoning together. Let me once again rehearse the other side of the debate -- reiterating, to be crystal clear, that these are not the views of most or many conservatives:

1. Pax Americana is all you need to know. The only lens through which to view the world is American strength and the need for others to conform to America's wishes.
2. The only good dictatorship is a regime-changed dictatorship. We don't make deals with evil; we eliminate evil.
3. You can never be too tough. Any policy that falls short of a tougher alternative undermines the security of the United States. Conversely, acts of toughness never have detrimental costs that outweight the benefits.
4. American moral authority is inherent. We're the good guys, and any regret or contrition makes us look weak.
5. The United States does not have to explain its actions to anyone. Any foreign policy that shows consideration to interests or concerns other than our own is a betrayal of America's hermetically sealed constitutional system.

My question for anyone who's been paying attention to recent commentary and the statements of opposition political leaders: does the above outline seem very different from what you've been hearing and reading?

In this light, I don't think my criticism of the critics is unfairly demonizing, or that my short summary of progressivism's strategic aims is so shallow or inane. First, the most important words in my little statement are "working together with others;" with the way the far-right portrays compromise as appeasement and diplomacy as the expression of US demands, they leave no room for meaningful international cooperation. Second, the reason I counterposed the "increase" and "reduce" parts is because US foreign policy needs to be more than fending off threats -- it also needs to improve conditions, which, by the way, means less threats. But as I say, critics of current policy have collapsed the debate down to the threats part.

Third, and related, my formulation points toward a broad, ambitious, and inclusive set of US strategic aims and interests. I expect the forthcoming Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review to explain how the US plans to increase peace and prosperity and reduce conflict and abuse, but I do claim that the goals are matters of substantive debate, rather than beauty pageant fluff. After all, I remember during the 2008 campaign when conservaties mocked candidate Obama was that he "claimed an American national security interest in the well-being of every child in the world."

Indeed, it would be good to have a healthy civil debate among conservatives and progressives on how to accomplish these things. I don't claim there's a partisan monopoly on these ideas or ideals, just that in the present political environment, only one side of the debate is speaking up for the need to build common cause with the rest of the world. In closing, let me resurrect a favorite quotation that states the strategic aim of former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's initiative on transformational diplomacy:

to work with our many partners around the world, to build and sustain democratic, well-governed states that will respond to the needs of their people and conduct themselves responsibly in the international system.

I can get behind that.

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