Back to Real Diplomacy?

This has to be one of the most level-headed articles I have ever read in Foreign Affairs! Stephen Wertheim pens an appeal for a return to real U.S. diplomacy and a scrapping of the neocon/neoliberal, scorched-earth policy for worldwide hegemony (my words, not his).

Though I don’t agree with everything in it — especially the parts about climate change and coronavirus — the general premise of Delusions of Dominance: Biden Can’t Restore American Primacy—and Shouldn’t Try by Stephen Wertheim is sure to be widely panned by the Washington war hawks that dominate American foreign policy, and that undoubtedly bubble around the surface near President Biden in Swampville.

In his article, Wertheim argues that the United States should quit trying to assert its dominance around the world and instead work to build relations. That’s my interpretation of what he said, anyway.

He argues that the Biden administration should withdraw the remaining troops from Afghanistan, reengage diplomatically with Iran, withdraw support for the Saudis war on Yemen, and cut support for Israel. Rather than risk a dangerous and costly war with Russia and China, Biden should deter China as a threat by working with allies and partners in the area to deny them access “to deny dominance of waterways and airspace to China.”

Of course, from what we know about Biden’s compromised relationship with China, which was revealed right before the 2020 presidential election, and generally ignored by the Establishment media and press, it is highly doubtful to this writer that Biden would do anything to check China’s power.

Wertheim further states of Biden:

In Europe, he should call a halt to NATO enlargement, breaking with three decades of expansion that saddled the United States with unwarranted commitments, damaged relations with Russia, and stifled European initiative. Through prudent retrenchment, the United States can coexist with China and Russia and find the right mix of competition and cooperation as U.S. interests dictate. The alternative is to spend the rest of the twenty-first century guaranteeing conflictual relations, risking great-power war, and crowding out domestic investments.

Unfortunately, this writer is extremely skeptical that Biden’s foreign policy decisions would be that great of a departure than what they were under the Obama administration. If recent history is any indicator, we will more than likely see a return of the State Department’s funding of both sides in the Middle East, a return of the radical jihadists, and a heightening of tensions worldwide.

Forgive me for being a bit on the cynical side, but it is highly unlikely that the intelligentsia, with all of their willing lapdogs in the media and Big Tech, would go to all of the trouble they did to rig an election in favor of a candidate only to continue the policies of the administration that they worked for four years to oust. Time will tell.