Bernie Sanders Is More Serious on Foreign Policy Than You Think

[cali]

(Lawrence J. Korb (born July 9, 1939, in New York City) is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and a senior adviser to the Center for Defense Information. He was formerly director of national security studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.)




CNN last week and on Meet the Press this week, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders cited me as someone who has given him foreign policy advice. I admit I was surprised to hear this—I have spoken to Senator Sanders only once since he declared his candidacy, in October. In the time since, this fact has been used by the media and his opponents to cast doubt on Sanders’ foreign policy credibility, to point out a supposed weak spot in a surging candidacy: Since I’m not on his campaign, and have met with him only once, how serious could Sanders—the socialist crusader battling the former secretary of state—really be?

The answer is: serious. Since Sanders’ public mention of me, I have been asked repeatedly whether I think his foreign policy positions and experience are sound. I do.


In my dealings with him, and in analyzing his record in Congress over the past 25 years, I have found that Sanders has taken balanced, realistic positions on many of the most critical foreign policy issues facing the country. In the mold of realists like Brent Scowcroft, national security adviser to Presidents Richard Nixon and George H.W. Bush, Sanders voted against the invasion of Iraq in 2002, while wisely supporting the war against in Afghanistan in 2001 and the intervention in the Balkans in 1990s. And Sanders certainly isn’t a foreign policy lightweight: In fact, given his long tenure in the House and Senate, he has more foreign policy experience than Ronald Reagan or Barack Obama did when they were running for office the first time.

What would a President Sanders’ foreign policy look like? Based on his record and my conversation with him, I believe it would be rooted in a number of key principles. First is restraint in using American force abroad. As he has stated, and as is demonstrated by his vote against the Iraq War and the first Gulf War, Sanders believes military action should be the last, not first, option and that, when taken, such action should be multilateral. I also believe, based on our conversation, that he would follow the Weinberger Doctrine (also known as the Powell Doctrine): When the United States uses military force abroad, our objectives should be clear, we should be prepared to use all the force necessary to achieve those objectives, and we should know when they have been achieved.


Read more: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/02/bernie-sanders-foreign-poicy-213619#ixzz3zx3WL7dT

[boston bean]

1. which of his two?

Crush ISIS or I didn't vote for the IWR.

[cali]

2. What? Don't you want to impugn Korb?

Why do I wonder if you even know who he is?

[boston bean]

3. I think I made my point well.

[BainsBane]

4. A candidate who is serious about foreign policy assembles a team of advisers

to help prepare him for the job of president. http://www.politico.com/story/2016/01/bernie-sanders-foreign-policy-deficit-218431

There is no getting around the fact he hasn't done that. It's not something that can be spun to look good. He needs to take that aspect of the job seriously. It isn't a question of being informed for a general person (though I don't see a lot of evidence that's the case) or having a key principles. George W. Bush had key principles too. What he lacked was the extremely high level of knowledge necessary to competently carry out the job of being president.

A president has to know a tremendous amount and be able to respond to crises around the word at a moment's notice. That is only possible if he has spent a lot of time preparing himself for that aspect of the job, which is why all candidates have teams of foreign policy advisers. That is, all of them except Bernie. Your own article says Korb was surprised to be named as an adviser since he had spoken to him only ONCE.

Enough making excuses for this. If you want him to be president, let his campaign know you expect him to take it seriously. Because his failure to develop a foreign policy team makes it look like he has no intention of ever becoming president.

I don't even want to hear responses from people who think a president doesn't need to learn much about foreign policy, that all that matters is vote from from 14 years ago. As much as I oppose the Iraq War, I do not believe a decision to remained under-informed acceptable. Anyone who considers that a reasonable position needs to take a long, hard look at themselves. I agree with this author that the fetishization of not knowing is a destructive phenomenon in American politics. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel-kushner/the-fetishization-of-not-knowing-bernie-sanders_b_9195124.html

[uponit7771]

5. nah...right now Sanders sounds like he either has no idea or hes's stuck in the 70's...but I dont

...think it'll take any time for hi to catch up

[Art_from_Ark]

6. We need a foreign policy that incorporates aspects of JFK's policies

(Peace Corps, Alliance for Progress) with Carter's early foreign policy (human rights).
Someone who relies on Henry "I Heart Pinochet" Kissinger for advice isn't going to do that.

[Fast Walker 52]

7. yep! I think implicit and tacit in Sanders foreign policy is that he will rein in the excessive

militarism that is bringing us down so much, both morally and financially.

[stonecutter357]

8. Bernie Sanders Is More Serious, no he is not.