A Foreign Policy Doctrine for Dems
Posted by Ben Shaffer on July 17, 2006 at 12:36PM
While hidden in the cumbersome title, I feel that Robert Wrights artcle entitled "An American Foreign Policy That Both Realists and Idealists Should Fall in Love With" raises important questions for the Democrats looking ahead to 2008. If the main macro level problem with the Democratic Party over the last 6 years has been a failure to combat the Bush Administration on foreign policy issues, Wright, despite being from Princeton, offers a strong, focused and clear doctrine that Democrats should consider adapting in their platforms for 2006 and more importantly, 2008. He calls it "progresssive realism" and it warrants discussion. The article can be found here. Read it or just read my ramblings.
The problem Wright discusses is twofold. First, after 9-11 and the creation of the Bush Doctrine, there was no alternative put forth by both the traditionalistic idealists and realists of foreign policy. For those of you that are not interested in international relations and more interested in taking back the House, know that the second problem Wright mentions is with the Democrats and their inability (particularly in 2004) to articulate an alternative foreign policy solution. This problem is with us today with the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East, Iran, North Korea and everywhere else in which the Bush Doctrine has failed to produce results.
While the article is long and I would not presume to summarize a piece you can read for yourself, I will say that his combination of realism (roughly the doctrine that foreign policy is to serve national interests only) and idealism (the relative opposite of that that is concerned more with the liberal end of things) could really work for the Democratic Party. It is important to recognize that speading democracy, freedom and economic liberalization is important for the United States. At the same time, it is important to remember that invading countries at will (ie Iraq) is not the answer. What Wright does is to say that "progressive realism" would combine the two.
That is certainly easier said than done. But the discussion of a broader foreign policy for Dems is one that I feel is often lost amid the seemingly more prevalent and important issue of Iraq. However, I strongly feel that without a broader foreign policy debate within the Democratic party, we will continue to falter on the most important issue of the day. Robert Wright provides us with a good starting point.