Trump's Foreign Policy: The Dogs Bark, but the Caravan . . .

The Diplomad ^ | 29 March 2018 | W. Lewis Amselem

[lowbuck]

Perhaps it's that great minds think alike, or, perhaps, it's just coincidence. I have started a couple of drafts of a piece on President Trump's foreign policy gains, only to find that a few others have done the same--and probably better. I have vowed not to read anymore of them until I write my own little piece. You can find the competition in National Review, Powerline, and elsewhere.

We have heard a great deal from the media and the bureaucracy about the "hollowing out of the State Department." To get an idea of what I think of that, I direct my six readers to the blurb next to "my" photo at the side of this blog:

W. Lewis Amselem, long time US Foreign Service Officer; now retired; served all over the world and under all sorts of conditions. Convinced the State Department needs to be drastically slashed and reformed so that it will no longer pose a threat to the national interests of the United States.

Maybe President Trump read that? Judging from that long ago written blurb, you could correctly conclude that I do not find it at all alarming to have the State Department asked to do with less. That is a good thing. We see moaning about "deep cuts" to the State Department budget that will "gut" our diplomacy. Rubbish. Even with "deep cuts" the budget allocated for State/AID remains in the $40 billion ballpark, which is a big ballpark. The U.S. Foreign Service consists of over 8,000 diplomats, plus another over 7,500 or so "specialists," e.g., support personnel, plus AID officers, and a smattering of people from other agencies, such as the Departments of Agriculture and Commerce. In addition, there are some 11-12,000 Civil Service employees working at State, most but not all in Washington DC. So we are talking some 28,000 or more full-time employees, plus contractors, interns, and so on. That's a lot of people. That's too many people. That's a well-staffed division.

I long have held that you could cut this workforce by about one-third in a flash, and nobody would notice--well, except for those getting cut and their landlords and real estate agents. With a little planning you could cut the whole thing in half, and have a much more nimble and productive organization. I, therefore, was not aghast, or in shock with horror, because a few positions got left vacant under the Trump Administration, or the budget proposals were not as grand as in the past. No great foreign policy calamity was going to befall the Republic because a few "professionals" got their noses out of joint, or some useless programs got cut back. Cut, and cut some more. I've got lots of ideas of where to cut.

In a post written long, long ago (March 12, 2012), I noted that under the late and unlamented Obama/Clinton foreign affairs team, "there is no foreign policy coming from the White House, except a default position of apology, appeasement, and accommodation." It was all just show, what now would be called "virtue signaling." Not all of that, of course, was the fault of Obama or Clinton or her even more despicable successor, John "Christmas in Cambodia" Kerry. There is a culture at State which I described as revolving,

around public displays of affection for the Secretary; more than that, it is based upon open adoration of the Secretary, who quickly becomes an almost mythical figure possessed of unbounded wisdom and insight. What we have, in other words, is a diluted version of North Korea. You go to staff meetings, and they ring with statements, such as "the Secretary has said," "the Secretary wants," and "the Secretary was right on point this morning." You have not seen grown people--mostly men--try to outdo themselves praising the Dear Leader until you have gone to a morning meeting at State chaired by somebody who just attended a prior staff meeting chaired by the Secretary. As the kids say, "OMG!" People you thought reasonable, lose all reason, all critical faculties as they rush to appear the Most Loyal Servant of the Secretary. These are supposed to be Americans, defenders of the Great Republic, but you expect them to break into Anna's song, absent the irony,

"Yes, Your Majesty;No, Your Majesty.Tell us how low to go, Your Majesty;Make some more decrees, Your Majesty,Don't let us up off our knees, Your Majesty.Give us a kick, if you please, Your MajestyGive us a kick, if you would, Your Majesty Oh, That was good, Your Majesty!"

I haven't put my head in the doorway at 2201 C St., NW, in quite some time, but I doubt things have gotten better. In fact, from what I hear I am sure they've gotten worse; I detect a sense of abandonment by the bureaucracy since the Trump Administration doesn't seem too worry too much about what the bureaucrats at Foggy Bottom have to say about foreign policy.

Folks, that's a good thing--unless you think foreign policy and diplomacy consist of doing what we always have done and getting the same results over and over. I remember, for example, the consternation at State when Reagan & Co. told us that we would have as our objective to roll-back the USSR. Horrors! You can't do that! What about the UN? What about the Europeans? The World Order of the past 40 years? I remember horrifying some arms control officials when I expressed that the best way to get disarmament was to increase ours and drive home to Moscow the futility of competing with the world's biggest economy. Lots of anger, especially from folks who made a very nice living conducting these seemingly endless disarmament negotiations in nice places such as Geneva with generous per diems. Innovation and questioning are not hallmarks of the State Department.

This President, perhaps more so than any other we've had, approaches foreign affairs with the cool detachment of an experienced businessman and negotiator concerned about the end result, not just the inputs. He asks, "Why? Why are we doing that when the USA doesn't benefit?" He is the exact opposite of the State Department belief in--irritating word--"deliverables." When a meeting is to happen with a senior foreigner, Department staff try to find a "deliverable," some sort of goody to hand to the alien potentate as a sign of our willingness to give more in the future. This President has the opposite approach: "I know what they're getting from us, what do we get from them? What's their 'deliverable' to us?" Shocking. He has no problem questioning the way things are--not, as noted above, a strong point at State, or for that matter, of the usual international elite that gets easily shocked by things such as Brexit, labelling Mad Kim as "Rocketman," threatening tariffs, backing out of the destructive Paris Climate Accord, etc.

It seems to be working. NATO is in better shape than it has been in years. There is a glimmer of hope of meaningful progress on the Korean peninsula. The Middle East is doing much better now that ISIS has been virtually annihilated. We are moving our Embassy to Jerusalem with barely a peep out of the Arab world. The Saudis and Israelis (as predicted by this humble blog some years ago) are getting together in their opposition to Iran. Iranian boats have stopped harassing our fleet (wonder why?) The Chinese seem to be backing down from their threat of a trade war. Russian influence is on the wane. We have good relations with African nations in the fight against the jihadis. These and others out there are good signs. A lot of this can be reversed, of course, but for now the Trump Caravan moves on even as the assorted prog dogs grow hoarse from barking. Not bad.

[lowbuck]

From a former State Department critter. He posts about once or twice a week and gives a very balanced, and often "inside" look at the realities of how our foreign policy is made and executed.

You may want to bookmark his site for continued reading.

Enjoy

[Vendome]

Good read

[LibWhacker]

You may want to bookmark his site for continued reading.

Yes! Thanks for posting.

[Nailbiter]

flr

[SunTzuWu]

Bookmark.

[Sir Napsalot]

Oh, good. I didn’t know The Diplomad is back active again, as version 2. I used to read his original The Diplomad blog.

Thank you..

[Liz]

STROLL DOWN MEMORY LANE---HILLARY'S STATE DEPT
AND THE OBAMA YEARS---UNRELENTING SCANDAL
By Ari Lieberman

EXCERPT The taxpayer financed-Skolkovo Scandal – While serving as secretary of state, Clinton oversaw a program meant to “reset” relations with Moscow and improve ties. The program centered around the Russian city of Skolkovo near Moscow with the stated aim of “identifying areas of cooperation and pursuing joi nt projects and actions that strengthen strategic stability, international security, economic well-being, and the development of ties between the American and Russian people.”

Hillary's State Dept program transformed Skolkovo into a technology hub akin to a Silicon Valley. Sensitive American technology was transferred to the Russians, substantially enhancing their military and cyber capabilities. The US Army and the FBI concluded that Russia had exploited the program for military applications. The FBI warned American technology companies doing business in Skolkovo that the Skolkovo project was a means by which the Russians would acquire dual use technologies and apply them for military ends. According to investigative author Peter Schweizer, Russian and American companies and individuals involved in the Skolkovo fiasco “had major financial ties to the Clintons.”

Moreover, during the Russian reset period, those entities provided the Clintons with “tens of millions of dollars” in the form of “contributions to the Clinton Foundation, paid for speeches by Bill Clinton, or investments in small start-up companies with deep Clinton ties.” (hat tip frontpagemagazine.com)

=====================================

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Of all the spurious excuses she gives for her loss, the most ludicrous is that
Hillary says she lost her "sure-thing election" because "Putin doesn't like me."

Hillary once bragged that she, alone, was brought into Putin's inner sanctum
where she assured Putin she was worried about wildlife like he was.

Dam...Putin musta outright lied when he whispered to Hilary that they were BFF.

Secy Hillary and Obama were eager to please Russia w/ the friendly reset button.
Hillary later said the reset gambit was Obama's and her idea "to strengthen Russia."

==============================================

Ex-Pres Clinton is s-o-o-o-o friendly he traveled to Russia to clinch the uranium giveaway deal.
And to pocket a $500,000 dollar speaking fee from a Moscow bank plus a sizeable commission.

Billyboo even laid his Hot Damn Hillbilly Act on Putin.

[exDemMom]

Good article, thanks for posting.

Looking at the disasters our foreign policy has created all over the world, notably under the “leadership” of Clinton, it is difficult to understand why anyone would *not* want to drastically reform the State Department. Obama’s administration left us in a horrible place, foreign policy wise.

[Liz]

Mueller and the corrupt FBI crowd see Russian agents behind every Republican filing cabinet.

But they are sickeningly apathetic about Obama, Hillary and Bill Clinton’s policies, decisions, and actions that gave aid and comfort to Russia.

Obama and Hillary’s major flopola——the much-mocked “Russian reset button”-—— established the tone for Obama and the Clintons’ coziness with the Kremlin.

BACKSTORY On March 6, 2009, during a trip to Geneva, she presented Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov a small, red button. Halfrican Obama, and Secy Hillary thought it was emblazoned with the Russian word for “reset.” The button actually read “overload.” Nonetheless, Clinton and Lavrov jointly pressed the symbolic button. And a new era in U.S.–Russian relations erupted.

AFTERMATH-—While visiting Moscow on March 24, 2010, Secy Hillary explained the Reset Button’s purpose:
“Our goal (meaning Obama and the State Dept) is to help strengthen Russia.”

[dennisw]

I remember the original Diplomad blog. It flashed across the internet sky for about 6 months in 2003 or so, before he was forced to take it down. Due to still working for the Federal Government. State Department probably.

[sparklite2]

Obama/Clinton foreign affairs team, “there is no foreign policy coming from the White House, except a default position of apology, appeasement, and accommodation.

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Trump is refocusing the State Department into representing the US to other countries, instead of representing other countries to the US. It is a refreshing change.

[Sir Napsalot]

Thanks. Was it that long ago, 2003?

I remember debating with another person claiming to be a NASA guy (on The Diplomad blog) about the privatization of space/shuttle.

I argued that private industries will (would) do it faster and much cheaper than NASA. And denounced its bloated budget using it for ‘Global Warming’ scam. I tell you, he's totally shocked. First he couldn't believe anybody skeptical of GW (it was at the height of the Goracle's GW crusade), then about NASA being outdated.

Good times, good times.......

[Pajamajan]

Bookmark

[Sir Napsalot]

Obviously, my #12 post is to dennisw.

The Diplomad’s description of how UN big shots taking over and handling of the 2004 Indonesian tsunami will bring your blood to boil.

[dennisw]

2003? Yeah my guess. I am pretty sure Diplomad blog was before the Iraq war. It only lasted 6 months but was outrageous and funny.

[dennisw]

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2005/02/009360.php

At least I had it right about Diplomad lasting only 6 months. August 2004 to January 2005