U.S. Role in the World

U.S. Military Schools Welcome Chinese Students

Joel Davis — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:47:13 +0000

Here’s an interesting news item that I came across while reading up on President Obama’s trip to China. Long an established academic powerhouse and home to many of the world’s top institutions of higher learning, is the U.S. still an attractive destination for international students? According to The Wall Street Journal blog The Wealth Report the answer is yes. Their report notes that wealthy Chinese families are sending their children to study at U.S. military schools:

Among wealthy U.S. families, military schools have a reputation for being antiquated forms of punishment. It was where the rich dumped their spoiled, uncontrollable kid when they had run out of other options. But for the new generation of rich Chinese, American military schools are seen as the disciplined training grounds for tomorrow’s economic warriors. An article in China Daily says more and more wealthy Chinese parents are turning away from pamper-parenting and opting for the tough-love of pre-college military academies in the U.S.

I think it’s probably safe to say that when you receive an education in another country, one can’t help but soak up some of the local values and mores. What will they learn at American military schools? While such an education is sure to feature a curriculum heavy on military discipline I wonder if it will also impart a healthy dose of Western liberal values that can be transplanted to China? Perhaps these students will become a new leadership cadre for the modern forward looking China they are building. Let a hundred toy soldiers lead the way.

Photo Credit: WSJ/Valley Forge Military Academy & College

Obama’s Chinese Town Hall

Joel Davis — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:38:02 +0000

President Obama’s visit to China has ended. As I reviewed the coverage of his visit I was looking to see how he would balance the traditional U.S. concern for human rights with trade and security concerns. Would he, as past presidents have done, sternly lecture the Chinese on human rights, or would he (as Secretary Clinton suggested) make it clear that human rights issues would not get in the way of more strategic concerns? It seems that he borrowed a tool from his campaign to strike a balance between the two, staging a town hall-style meeting with students in Shanghai and used the event to promote the values of free speech and free access to information. This report from CNN contrasts the feel and style of Obama’s town hall meetings in the U.S. with this one in China. Apparently the students were preselected to attend and their questions carefully vetted, but one question about the use of the Twitter service provided Obama an opportunity to discuss access to the internet and the politically touchy subject of internet censorship. China, as you know, as developed quite a reputation for heavy-handed internet censorship (just Google “firewall China“) in the name of fighting what they see as social ills (dissent) and preserving national harmony. His reply, which was respectful of both his hosts and American values, provided what to me was one of the highlights of the trip. If you are interested, here is the full video of the town hall:

Where American Stands

Joel Davis — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:36:15 +0000

How about some entertainment news? I know you don’t come to the Foreign Policy Association for entertainment news, but I thought perhaps my U.S. Role readers would be interested in a new television project by the CBS network. They are producing an end-of-the-decade look at America’s position in the world that will feature reports from all of the network’s news divisions. According to the press release:

With the new decade on the horizon, CBS News will take an in-depth look at key areas that affect all Americans. “Our expectations for the future, our sense of America’s place in the world, even our national priorities all seem in flux,” said Sean McManus, president of CBS News and Sports. “We want to provide our viewers with a report card on America through compelling stories across all CBS News platforms and broadcasts that will present honest assessments of areas with the greatest impact on our individual lives as well as our national preparedness.” The multi-week series, titled CBS REPORTS: Where America Stands, starts in January 2010, and will provide benchmarks for where the country stands today and an outlook for the future decade. Programming will appear on a variety of CBS News platforms, including The CBS Evening News, The Early Show, Face the Nation, Sunday Morning and CBS Radio News, as well as CBSNews.com.

The series will highlight foreign policy as well as domestic policy, including reports on defense, diplomacy, terror threats, and global interdependence.

Image Credit - CBS News

Obama Goes to Beijing

Joel Davis — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 21:55:17 +0000

President Obama has departed for a trip to Asia that will provide his first opportunity to put his stamp on U.S.-China relations. Security, the environment, and the economy will also be on his agenda as he visits Japan, Singapore, and South Korea. Our relationship with China has always been complex and even contradictory at times as U.S. commercial and strategic interests clash with human rights concerns. This overview from The Washington Post provides a timeline of presidential trips and major events from 1972 to the present. Critics of the president will no doubt claim this trip to Asia will be yet another “apology tour” in which Obama seeks to restore ties by admitting past mistakes. In When Obama Goes to Beijing, Brookings scholars Cheng Li and Jordan Lee note the fine line Obama will have to walk between demonstrating respect for China while strongly representing American ideals and interests.

Veterans Day 2009

Joel Davis — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:18:11 +0000

I’m taking a moment to honor Veterans Day. Originally established by President Woodrow Wilson to mark the end of World War I the day now recognizes the service and sacrifice of veterans of all our wars. The VA website has a nice historical overview if you would like to learn more. As a “military brat” I have a great deal of respect for the men and women of the U.S. armed forces and the personal commitment and sacrifices they make when they volunteer to serve. Any discussion of the U.S. role in the world would be incomplete without acknowledging the role our veterans have played in securing the promise of liberty for people, and entire countries, all over the world.

Image Credit: Department of Veterans Affairs

America Through Merkel’s Eyes

Joel Davis — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:18:37 +0000

World leaders gather in Berlin this week to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, that iconic symbol of the Cold War. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is hosting current leaders like Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as well as past Cold Warriors George H.W. Bush and his counterpart, Mikhail Gorbachev. Prominent news organizations are offering retrospectives (CNN, The New York Times) of that epic moment in 1989 when the structure of world politics changed overnight. So much as been written about the Cold War, how it ended and why it ended when it did, that I’m hesitant to offer any new synthesis here. I did, however, note this interesting personal reflection from Chancellor Merkel in her recent address to the U.S. Congress:

Angela Merkel, the first leader of reunited Germany to grow up under communist rule, has worked as chancellor to warm up ties with the United States — a country she couldn’t travel to until she was in her mid-30s. [...] Merkel is the daughter of a Protestant pastor who moved his family to the east when she was very young. She told Congress Tuesday that America “was simply unreachable to me” until the Berlin Wall fell in 1989. “The wall, barbed wire and orders to shoot limited my access to the free world,” she said, adding that films and books smuggled in by relatives from the west helped form her picture of the U.S. “I was enthusiastic for the American dream — the opportunity for everyone to be successful, to become something through their own efforts,” she added. Merkel said she flew to the U.S. for the first time in 1990.

In as much as historians will debate the causes of the end of the Cold War for years to come, Merkel’s comments and personal reflections remind us that no matter what they ultimately credit as the cause, the U.S. role as a beacon of hope and a champion of freedom for those living under Communist oppression can never be underestimated.

Photo Credit: The New York Times

Use of Proxy Diplomats Questioned

Joel Davis — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:49:01 +0000

In light of Senator Jim Webb’s trip to Myanmar and former president Bill Clinton’s recent and well publicized visit to North Korea, I thought this report in The Washington Times was interesting. It examines the practice of using “proxy diplomats” to deal with international crises and questions the political implications of using such unofficial agents. In an administration already famous for using special envoys is there a danger that adding proxy diplomats to the diplomatic toolkit makes it difficult for both allies and enemies to determine who speaks for the U.S. government?

Foreign Policy Style & Substance

Joel Davis — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 22:11:14 +0000

Foreign policy has once again returned to the headlines as President Obama continues his decision-making process on Afghanistan and Secretary of State Clinton recently completed a tour of the Middle East. I’d like to call your attention to an interesting report in today’s Washington Post that compares and contrasts the promise and performance of the Obama Administration in the area of foreign policy. I like how it focuses on the issues and gives the reader a good idea of how Obama’s extraordinary personal popularity has translated (or failed to translate) into foreign policy wins/losses for the U.S. as well as the personal decision making style and values that Obama brings to the process. The report notes that Obama’s approach has taken some getting used to for U.S. citizens as well as our allies.

Defending Basic Freedoms

Joel Davis — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 22:25:35 +0000

The U.S. often takes on the role of defending basic freedoms in the world at large. One of the better examples of this is our championing of religious liberty abroad and one of the primary tools we have used to do that is the annual publication of the report on International Religious Freedom by the State Department. This report serves as a barometer of the expansion and contraction of religious freedom, noting those countries which practice openness and contrasting them with countries that practice repression and religious persecution. In her remarks on the publication of this year’s report, Secretary Clinton said:

The right to profess, practice, and promote one’s religious beliefs is a founding principle of our nation. In fact, many of our earliest settlers came because they wanted the freedom to practice their own religion without a state interfering or oppressing that practice. It is the first liberty mentioned in our Bill of Rights, and it is a freedom guaranteed to all people in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. [...] The United States will always seek to counter negative stereotypes of individuals based on their religion and will stand against discrimination and persecution.

Even as the report represents a worthy affirmation of American values it also makes for rather awkward moments and complicates our diplomacy, as when we find ourselves criticizing allies (Saudi Arabia for example) who may not share our devotion to religious freedom. For more on the report, please this State Department video:

Afghanistan & Long-Term Commitments

Joel Davis — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 22:37:51 +0000

As you know, President Obama has not yet made a decision on whether to increase the number of troops in Afghanistan and there are any number of reports in the media about his decision-making process. The White House is signaling that President Obama is nearing his decision on Afghan war strategy:

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters Tuesday that a planned meeting on Friday with the Joint Chiefs of Staff will be among the last events in the decision-making process. Gibbs said Obama then will take some time to evaluate the recommendations and decide what is best for the United States as well as for Afghanistan, Pakistan and that region of the world. [...] Gibbs said the president will announce his decision in the coming weeks.

In previous posts I used this space to highlight recommendations by scholars and experts who study this issue. One of the key variables that Obama and his national security team are considering is the depth of public support for the war and the question of whether the U.S. public would support a long-term engagement. The consensus seems to be that the public would not support a long-term commitment to Afghanistan. I was reminded recently that the U.S. is not a stranger to long-term military commitments. Having fought WWII in Europe and Asia the U.S. still retains a large number of forces there, and as this AP report notes, the status of those forces often has profound implications for the domestic politics of host countries:

Japan cannot sign off on a planned reorganization of U.S. troops in the country before President Barack Obama visits Tokyo next month, its foreign minister said on Thursday, after the U.S. defense secretary bluntly called for the deal to be implemented. Friction over the military realignment deal could be the first big test for ties between the United States and Japan’s new Democratic Party-led government, which has pledged to steer a diplomatic course less dependent on its closest security ally. [...] The daily Yomiuri newspaper said U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates told Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada on Tuesday that Japan should decide before Obama’s November 12-13 visit to go ahead with a plan to move a U.S. Marine air base to a less crowded part of Japan’s southern Okinawa island.

From this, I would draw two conclusions. First, If the status of U.S. forces in Japan is a hot-button issue for Japanese domestic politics I can’t help but note that sixty-four years after WWII it’s not at all an issue in U.S. domestic politics. No commitment phobia there. And second, perhaps if Japan no longer wants U.S. forces there we can move all our troops from that country to Afghanistan. I don’t really think that would happen, but we could do that…if we wanted to.