Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Palestinian Ministry of Health: 22 Palestinians were injured by Israeli occupation gunfire east of Gaza Strip
Palestinian Ministry of Health: 14 Palestinians were injured by Israeli occupation gunfire near the Israeli-erected fence east of Gaza Strip
Palestinian Ministry of Health: Seven Palestinians were injured by Israeli occupation gunfire east of Gaza Strip
Sources to Al Mayadeen: Israeli occupation prison administration transfers hunger-striking prisoner Kayed al-Fafsous to solitary confinement in Asqalan prison
Head of Crimea: Russian air defenses shot down cruise missiles over Crimea.
Sevastopol Governor: Another attack on city still possible.
Governor of Russia's Sevastopol: Headquarters of Russia's Black Sea fleet in Sevastopol comes under missile strike.
Chinese President: Beijing ready to develop cooperation with Syria and for joint defense of international justice amid instability.
Chinese President Xi Jinping while receiving his Syrian counterpart: China and Syria moving toward announcing strategic partnerships.
Algerian Foreign Minister: Africa's Sahel region has become a focal point for terrorist armies armed with the latest weapons, and in control of a large geographical region.

Richard Haass admits US foreign-policy establishment is faulty

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: The American Spectator
  • 20 Dec 2022 16:06
  • 2 Shares

CFR President Richard Haass dispelled the delusions of the internationalists and globalists who have guided the United States down a precipice toward demise, according to the American Spectator.

  • Richard N. Haass. Source: Fred Prouser/Reuters.
    Richard N. Haass, the President of the Council on Foreign Relations. (Reuters)

In a journal titled "Ten Lessons from the Return of History," Richard Haass, the longtime president of the Council on Foreign Relations, which publishes Foreign Affairs, the most significant journal of the foreign-policy establishment, essentially admits that the American foreign-policy establishment has been mistaken for the past 30 years on the most crucial global issues, according to a report by The American Spectator. 

Haass doesn't blatantly say it, rather he couches the foreign-policy establishment’s errors in a list of the 10 “lessons” of 2022 that “we ignore at our peril," according to the newsletter.

According to the report, these "ten lessons" serve as proof that the Council on Foreign Relations' recommendations to policymakers and readers of Foreign Affairs, who closely follow their counsel, should go elsewhere to grasp what is actually going on in the world.

1. Wars between countries are obsolete

The journal discusses different points that highlight the flaws. The first introduces how Foreign Policy suggests that war between countries, especially war involving great powers, was obsolete.

"They said this even as the United States — a great power — waged wars against Iraq in 1991, and later against Afghanistan and Iraq in the 21st century. And these were wars that had the support (at least initially) of most of the American foreign-policy establishment. Russia waged war in Ukraine in 2014, and again in 2022. Indian and Chinese forces have clashed along their border. And China threatens to use force to reunify Taiwan with the mainland, risking a war with the United States, Japan, and possibly other countries in the region."

Read next: Biden: Republicans have "no sense of American foreign policy"

Haass adds that the establishment types suggested that economic interdependence and economic and cultural “integration” would remove motives for war but all Western countries had to do was welcome a rising China into the “rules-based international order” and engage the Chinese Communist Party in academic and cultural matters, and everything would be fine, according to him. However, he suggests that economics has never been the only motive for wars.

1.1 Haass on sanctions

Regarding sanctions, he suggested that many globalists suggested that economic sanctions would change the behavior of nations, even though history teaches otherwise. "Sanctions didn’t stop Japan’s aggression before and during World War II. They didn’t persuade Saddam Hussein to withdraw from Kuwait. They haven’t persuaded Russia to end its aggression in Ukraine."

Related News

Iran summons Swiss envoy after US statement on disputed Gulf islands

US Senator Menendez, his wife indicted for bribery

2. No such thing as international community 

The second "lesson" we have learned is that there is no such thing as an "international community," according to Haass.

He acknowledges that the UN is "impotent." For a member of the foreign policy elite in good standing, this might be the most excruciating acknowledgment of a mistake, suggesting that the core of the globalist agenda is directly attacked by this, according to the American Spectator. 

2.1 'Authoritarianism face greater challenges'

The next point Haass makes is that authoritarian governments confront more obstacles to maintaining power than do democracies.

He has learned again that “authoritarian leaders often resist abandoning failed policies or admitting mistakes” and that “ideology and regime survival often drive decision-making in such systems.” Here Haass suggests that only those in the foreign policy elite have ever believed otherwise.

2.2 'Empowering individuals challenges governments'

The next lesson learned is that “the potential for the internet to empower individuals to challenge governments is far greater in democracies than in closed systems.” "Autocratic" regimes, Haass notes, can “close off their society, monitor and censor content, or both.”

Haass also noted that democratic educational systems are worse, emphasizing that the events in 2022 should be a lesson. 

He notes that the recent Twitter revelations have proved that democratic governments also have the capacity to close off their society and monitor and censor internet content.

2.3 'The West still exists' 

In contrast to the globalist agenda, which assumes the universality of all things and avoids bragging about the advantages of Western civilization in comparison to other civilizations, Haass then acknowledges that "there is still a West," which means that Western civilization is real and probably worth defending.

According to CFR's President, “the United States cannot act unilaterally in the world if it wants to be influential,” American leadership is “essential.” 

2.4 'They think they are better'

The final “lesson,” Haass notes, is that “we must be modest about what we can know.” “What we have learned,” he continues, “is not just that history has returned, but also that, for better or worse, it retains its ability to surprise us.” 

Read next: China: US democracy weapon of mass destruction

He adds that modesty is rarely exhibited among members of the foreign-policy establishment, suggesting that "they often think of themselves as our “betters” and claim to have a better appreciation of world affairs than the common man or woman."

Haass defends that there is "more than modesty involved here."

The American Spectator suggests that Haass accidentally dispelled the delusions of the internationalists and globalists who have guided the United States down a precipice toward demise.

  • United States
  • Richard Haass

Most Read

Ukrainian soldiers ride an APC on the front line near Bakhmut, in the Donetsk region, on June 5, 2023 (AP)

US sees Ukrainian army demoralized, no chance to win: Seymour Hersh

  • Europe
  • 21 Sep 2023
Ukraine lost around 85% of its initial mobilized force: Field general

Ukraine lost around 85% of its initial mobilized force: Field general

  • Europe
  • 16 Sep 2023
'Israel's' railroad network targeted by cyberattack: Israeli media

'Israel's' railroad network targeted by cyberattack: Israeli media

  • Palestine
  • 16 Sep 2023
Old habits, linger … linger well past the time when old rituals (an Israeli PM visit to the Oval Office) had agency and the world hung on the outcome. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Arwa Makki)

Will a tripartite US-Saudi-Israeli ‘Deal’ make Any difference?

  • Opinion
  • 16 Sep 2023

Coverage

All
Morocco & Libya Disasters

Read Next

All
CAR leader blames West's 'plundering' of Africa for migrant crisis
Africa

West's pillage of Africa natural resources behind migrant crisis: CAR

US to strengthen border control with 800 additional troops.
US & Canada

US to fortify southern border control with 800 additional troops

French politican calls for stopping weapon shipments to Kiev
Europe

French politician demands no more weapons shipments to Kiev

France and Germany at odds once again over US arms
Europe

US arms purchases has France, Germany at odds, again

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS