To Be Great, America Must Be Good - By Susan Rice
By SUSAN E. RICE JUNE 2, 2017
WASHINGTON Four and a half months is not long, but President Trump has accomplished an extraordinary amount in a short time. With shocking speed, he has wreaked havoc: hobbling our core alliances, jettisoning American values and abdicating United States leadership of the world. Thats a whole lot of winning for Russia and China.
This work began promptly on Jan. 23, when the United States withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, leaving key allies empty-handed, fearful of the strategic benefit that will inevitably accrue to China. Then the secretary of state made plain that American values now take a back seat to security interests, even though those interests are enhanced by our partnerships with democracies that respect human rights and undermined by regimes that repress their citizens. Witness the brutal crackdown on opposition elements in Egypt and Bahrain after President Trump told their leaders that the United States no longer cares how they treat their people.
The presidents budget would slash funding for the United States Agency for International Development and the State Department by nearly 30 percent, rendering our embassies vulnerable to attack and shuttering vital programs that advance our interests. The budget would also starve the United Nations and its peacekeeping operations of essential support. This will condemn the United States to pariah status at this important, if flawed, institution, where our leadership has been unrivaled.
At NATO, the presidents reckless refusal to reaffirm our commitment to the defense of our allies under Article 5, while hectoring them publicly about their military spending, made our allies conclude they must go it alone. Nothing could have thrilled President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia more, or done more damage to the strength and unity of the Western world. And now the president has pulled the United States out of the Paris climate agreement, putting us at odds with virtually the entire world. Europe and China stand together on the Paris accord, while the United States is isolated.
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https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/02/opinion/trump-america-leadership-susan-rice.html
dalton99a
(81,068 posts)Pachamama
(16,874 posts)To be Great - America must be Good
Pachamama
(16,874 posts)As quoted from her editorial:
"American corporations and civil society groups can assist by demonstrating that the United States remains committed to its integration into the global economy and to our democratic principles. In the absence of White House leadership, the American people should act as informal ambassadors, via contacts through tourism, study-abroad programs and cultural exchanges.
We can all contribute to showing other nations that we hold dear Americas place at the forefront of moral and political leadership in the world. And we must remain steadfast until, once again, we have a president willing to lead in accordance with American interests, traditions and values."
...in order to form a more perfect union...
ATL Ebony
(1,097 posts)Boy did she hit the nail squarely on the head. I don't know how much longer we have to wait by 45 MUST go, NOW!!