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What might a DeSantis foreign policy look like?
Responsible Statecraft ^
| November 2021
| Daniel Larison
Posted on 02/28/2023 10:26:43 AM PST by RandFan
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has become one of the main challengers to Donald Trump for leadership of the Republican Party in the wake of his landslide reelection victory last week over Democratic candidate Charlie Crist.
While DeSantis is best known nationally for controversies over Covid and culture war battles, he has a foreign policy record from his years in Congress and even during his tenure as governor that also merits closer scrutiny. If he seeks the Republican nomination for president, as many now expect he will, voters should be aware of the foreign policy worldview that he brings with him.
Before he left the House for Tallahassee, DeSantis established himself as a vocal critic of the Obama administration’s foreign policy with an emphasis on attacking U.S. diplomatic engagement with Iran and Cuba. His three terms in the House overlapped with Obama’s major initiatives of negotiating the nuclear deal with Iran and restoring normal relations with Cuba, and like the rest of his party DeSantis was hostile to both policies.
The hardline positions that DeSantis has taken on issues relating to Iran, Cuba, and Venezuela are not surprising given Florida politics, and they have aligned him closely with Florida’s hawkish Sen. Marco Rubio and fellow Iraq war veteran Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas.
During the original debate over the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), DeSantis was an early and vocal opponent of an agreement with Iran. He co-authored a July 2015 op-ed in Time with Tom Cotton outlining the usual hawkish objections to the deal. Like most critics of the agreement, they misrepresented what it would do and exaggerated the benefits Iran would receive from sanctions relief. The op-ed was long on outrage and short on offering any serious alternative to diplomacy to resolve the nuclear issue.
DeSantis and Cotton also indulged in rather hysterical threat inflation about Iran, saying, “They will stop at nothing to end our way of life.”
In addition to the op-ed, DeSantis released statements and spoke on the House floor many times denouncing any agreement with Iran that would allow them to retain any part of their nuclear program. He continued to rail against it after the agreement was implemented. Under Trump, DeSantis was enthusiastic in his support for undermining and leaving the JCPOA and imposing additional sanctions on Iran. On the decision to renege on the nuclear deal, he said that Trump “did the right thing.”
Going beyond the Trump administration’s stated goals for reimposing sanctions, DeSantis has imagined that the Iranian government could be brought down through more outside pressure. In a Fox News segment, he sketched out his idea of how regime change might happen: “So, I think the more we can connect people and expand social networks there, I do think that this regime’s days are numbered, and the more success we have in choking off the money and opening up the networks means their demise will be met quicker.”
Judging from his record, it is reasonable to assume that if DeSantis were elected president he would have no interest in negotiating with Iran about anything and would instead be looking for ways to destabilize and topple the government there.
DeSantis had already left the House by the time that Congress made its war powers challenge to U.S. involvement in the Saudi-led coalition war on Yemen, but while he was there he was a reliable vote against any restrictions on U.S. weapons going to Saudi Arabia. For example, he voted against a 2016 amendment that would have prevented the transfer of cluster munitions to the Saudis. The vote on that amendment was not strictly along party lines. There were 40 Republicans that voted for limiting the kinds of weapons being transferred to Saudi Arabia after the war had been going on for a year, but DeSantis stuck with most of his party on this question.
On other issues, DeSantis was a cheerleader for Trump’s early hawkish decisions. He touted Trump’s decision to provide military assistance to Ukraine and to order attacks on Syrian government targets. When John Bolton was named National Security Advisor, DeSantis praised the choice: “John Bolton, it’s a very strong voice, very clear thinker.” We don’t know yet who will be advising DeSantis on foreign policy, but his positive view of Bolton gives us some idea of the kind of people he would probably have around him.
When it came to Trump’s attempted negotiations with North Korea, DeSantis expressed support for what Trump was doing but presented it as proof that “pressure” on North Korea was succeeding. Like many other elected Republicans at the time, he wanted to paint the negotiations as a vindication of hardline pressure tactics. In June 2018, DeSantis likened Trump’s handling of North Korea to Reagan’s dealing with the Soviets, and he stressed that it was “a full spectrum pressure campaign.” He made clear that if there were an agreement with North Korea it would have to be very different from the nuclear deal with Iran, and he said “it will need to be up-front verification of denuclearization.”
In short, DeSantis was on board with Trump’s willingness to talk with North Korea only because he thought it would lead to sweeping concessions from North Korea before the U.S. provided any relief. It is worth noting that it was exactly this maximalist approach that went nowhere and later collapsed the talks.
The Venezuelan government has been another one of DeSantis’ favorite targets. As governor, he has had fewer occasions to take positions on foreign policy issues, but he was nonetheless a big booster of the Trump administration’s Venezuela policy from the beginning. He spoke at a joint appearance with the then-president in 2019 just a few weeks after Trump had recognized Juan Guaidó as interim president of Venezuela and embraced the administration’s regime change policy.
The governor also applauded the imposition of “tough sanctions” on Venezuela in a Facebook post in which he claimed to stand with the people of Venezuela that have suffered greater hardship on account of those same sanctions. He was quick to reject any hint of easing sanctions on Venezuela when the Biden administration took tentative steps to explore that possibility.
When Gustavo Petro was elected as the first leftist president of Colombia earlier this year, DeSantis couldn’t resist the opportunity to attack him and falsely called him a “narco-terrorist.” The governor cast the election result as evidence of a problem in the hemisphere with “Marxism and totalitarianism spreading.” This ideological approach to relations with Latin America is something of a throwback to the Cold War era. While it may play well with the electorate in Florida, it is unlikely to be well-received in the wider region.
Despite the prominence of the war in Ukraine, DeSantis has not had much to say about it or U.S. policy in the conflict, but he has tried to fault Biden for supposed “weakness” in the months leading up to the war. Shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he criticized the president over the withdrawal from Afghanistan, which the governor suggested had encouraged Russia’s aggression.
“When Biden fumbled in Afghanistan, when you had 13 service members killed, when you left all that equipment behind, when you left a bunch of other Americans behind, the humiliation of that experience is something Russia was watching,” Desantis said during a March 3 press conference.
DeSantis’ record doesn’t offer much evidence that he has questioned any of the Republican Party’s hawkish positions, and it is difficult to find examples where he and Trump disagree sharply on any major policies. As president, Trump usually governed in a way that made it easy for a conventional hawk like DeSantis to support him, and in return DeSantis has been a reliable supporter of Trump’s agenda when he was in Congress and since he became governor.
TOPICS: Chit/Chat
KEYWORDS: 2024election; desantis; desantis2024; globalist
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To: Golden Eagle
Yeah, cringeworthy I admit. I pray he learned from that mistake.
21
posted on
02/28/2023 11:05:06 AM PST
by
Nervous Tick
(Truth is not hate speech.)
To: jimwatx
The buck never stops at Trump, for anything, does it.
22
posted on
02/28/2023 11:05:42 AM PST
by
Golden Eagle
(The LGBT indoctrination agenda is designed to outlaw the Bible, and anyone who believes it.)
To: V_TWIN
Kanye didn’t have a generation in government to screw it up like George Bush did!
23
posted on
02/28/2023 11:06:00 AM PST
by
AuntB
(Trump is our Ben Franklin - Brilliant, Boisterous, Brave and ALL AMERICAN!)
To: dforest
He maintained wars against Afghanistan and Yemen while he was president, as well as firing missiles at Syria.
To: nickcarraway
25
posted on
02/28/2023 11:11:57 AM PST
by
dforest
(All of America has derailed.)
To: Nervous Tick
I see no proof Trump has learned from anything. He’s still screaming like a madman on his website, running around with the likes of Lindsey Graham and Kevin McCarthy, insisting on no cuts to any Federal spending, championing mDNA injections, etc.
26
posted on
02/28/2023 11:12:02 AM PST
by
Golden Eagle
(The LGBT indoctrination agenda is designed to outlaw the Bible, and anyone who believes it.)
To: Golden Eagle
Most Republicants haven’t learned anything and want Trump erased and to go back to the “managed decline” of America last.
27
posted on
02/28/2023 11:16:32 AM PST
by
central_va
(I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn...)
To: Golden Eagle
I’m just pointing out the truth you anti-Trumpers attempt to obscure.
28
posted on
02/28/2023 11:17:09 AM PST
by
jimwatx
To: central_va
Fox News has a big sad today.
CONTEXT – After months of promoting Ron DeSantis to become the 2024 GOP nominee, which includes the efforts of Rupert Murdoch (and family) via a multimillion-dollar Harper Collins book deal for the Florida governor; lengthy friendly interviews with DeSantis on every program; a full feature infomercial running on Fox News to present him to the national audience; attendance by key program pundits at DeSantis donor events and campaign organization meetings; weeks of specific messaging coordinated with board member Paul Ryan – and the consulting efforts of Karl Rove with the DeSantis operation; they are just not able to move the needle.
With the DeSantis book launch officially taking place today, Fox News Corp sends Brian Kilmeade to Florida to assist the DeSantis operation. Producers used the entire Fox and Friends morning programming to support the intent and Ron DeSantis’s ‘big day’. [See Long Video Here] However, when Brian Kilmeade broadcasts live from the Metro Diner in Ponte Vedra beach to promote the DeSantis narrative, the diners at the venue did not go along with the anticipated narrative. {Direct Rumble Link}
What follows in the live broadcast becomes a hilarious exhibition in how media-driven astroturf propaganda runs directly into the reality of the situation. It really is quite funny to see the escalating desperation of Mr. Kilmeade as he asks whether the audience supports Donald Trump or Ron DeSantis for the 2024 GOP nomination and cannot find anyone who puts DeSantis first – even the lady wearing the DeSantis T-shirt supports Trump first.
WATCH:
But wait, it gets better….. Even more funny.
Corporate Fox News is not going to give up, they had this whole production scripted. Karl Rove who is a key consultant in the managing and branding effort, is left retreating to the narrative that DeSantis doesn’t need to do anything yet. {Direct Rumble Link}
Watch below:
Rove is facing a big challenge. The Atwater-Rove days of gaslighting, manipulating and ultimately controlling the republican illusion of choice are in the rear-view mirror. The traditional mechanisms have collapsed and are no longer useful as the electorate have become more aware, and simultaneously the grassroots communication platforms have evolved.
Even extremely expensive political Astroturf is much harder now. People can just see through the issues and the fallacies are debunked in almost real time.
Rupert Murdoch has a sad.
Paul Ryan has a sad.
Karl Rove has a sad,….
…..and I’m over here enjoying every moment of it.
29
posted on
02/28/2023 11:26:41 AM PST
by
Bratch
To: jimwatx
I’m just pointing out the truth you anti-Trumpers attempt to obscure. I didn't try to obscure anything. You said that Trump appointed Bolton because Trump's biggest donor, the dual citizen Israeli casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, directed him to. Where did I deny any of that? Sounds likely, actually.
30
posted on
02/28/2023 11:32:32 AM PST
by
Golden Eagle
(The LGBT indoctrination agenda is designed to outlaw the Bible, and anyone who believes it.)
To: Erik Latranyi
That was early. Conditions changed and so do people.
31
posted on
02/28/2023 11:47:17 AM PST
by
Cobra64
(Common sense isn’t common anymore.)
To: Erik Latranyi; All
That was early. Conditions changed and so do people. By the way, Reagan and Trump we’re democrats.
32
posted on
02/28/2023 11:47:46 AM PST
by
Cobra64
(Common sense isn’t common anymore.)
To: jimwatx
The only reason Trump brought that clown Bolton onboard is because his biggest donor Adelson insisted upon it. Lots on FR saying they support Trump he can't be bought or controlled by donors owing to his great fortune. So which way is it?
33
posted on
02/28/2023 11:54:48 AM PST
by
CatHerd
(Whoever said "All's fair in love and war" probably never participated in either.)
To: CatHerd
He took Bolton on to mollify a donor, that doesn’t mean he took Bolton’s advice. He obviously didn’t, they were at loggerheads over policy. Trump even came out and called Bolton a nutjob. So pretending that Bolton reflects Trump’s views is a disingenuous lie, typical of you neocons.
34
posted on
02/28/2023 12:00:04 PM PST
by
jimwatx
To: jimwatx
Even Dumbya ran out of patience with Bolton.
35
posted on
02/28/2023 12:00:57 PM PST
by
dfwgator
(Endut! Hoch Hech!)
To: AuntB
Bush never rushed an untested vaccine out to the public either
36
posted on
02/28/2023 12:03:12 PM PST
by
V_TWIN
(America...so great even the people that hate it refuse to leave!)
To: jimwatx
The point is he did something to mollify a donor. And it was a big deal something. Those who claim Trump can’t be influenced by donors can’t turn around and make excuses for him by saying he was just pleasing a donor.
I am hardly a neocon!!!
Here’s the problem. Trump chose a succession of neocons, Haley (total whacko), Pompeo, etc. Would DeSantis be any better when it comes to choosing a foreign policy team? We have yet to see. So far, it looks iffy.
37
posted on
02/28/2023 12:10:56 PM PST
by
CatHerd
(Whoever said "All's fair in love and war" probably never participated in either.)
To: CatHerd
Trump is the ONLY one calling for negotiations, I think that should settle the matter. Get back to me when DeSantis says it’s time to end this thing.
38
posted on
02/28/2023 12:13:28 PM PST
by
jimwatx
To: jimwatx
Lately, DeSantis has indicated he’s not in the neocon camp re Ukraine:
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/02/ron-desantis-goes-full-trump-on-ukraine.html
But he’s he’s doing some fence sitting there, imho, and checking the wind.
What did Trump do re Ukraine when president?
Hmm, looks neocon to me:
https://web.archive.org/web/20171018214324/https://strategic-culture.org/news/2017/08/14/ukraine-hosts-us-military-permanently-stationed-on-its-soil.html
I remember Trump repeatedly saying he had given provided Ukraine weaponry that Obama denied them. Hmm.
On the other hand, he urged the newly-elected Zelensky to negotiate with Putin (sounds like, at least in front of press, wanted him to implement Minsk). But he did not follow up on that.
If Trump had insisted on Minsk being implemented, and put an end to our treating Ukraine like a de facto junior member of NATO, we would not have this war. I realize his hands were tied in many ways because Russia-Russia-Russia, but the fact remains he did not do these two key things that would have prevented the war.
DeSantis and Haley blame Biden pulling out of Afghanistan for emboldening Putin. Maybe so, but I’ve come to wonder if that hasty pullout was in preparation for the war in Ukraine, as the neocons were planning to goad the bear into invading Ukraine. It wouldn’t do to have our troops sitting in Afghanistan with NATO in a hot proxy war with Russia. Besides, there was the added bonus of leaving all those cool toys that go boom in terrorist hands in Russia’s vicinity for Putin to have to keep an eye out for.
Right now, the only politician talking sense on foreign policy is Tulsi Gabbard, and she isn’t running.
39
posted on
02/28/2023 1:19:13 PM PST
by
CatHerd
(Whoever said "All's fair in love and war" probably never participated in either.)
To: jimwatx
I really like what DeSantis is doing in Florida. I’m troubled that Paul Ryan is endorsing him, and Karl Rove and Jeb Bush and ...
40
posted on
02/28/2023 1:21:12 PM PST
by
1Old Pro
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