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Trump's comprehensive national security policy is a 70-page document which prioritizes economic security foremost to gain national security. President Trump's national security plan will be built on four main themes, which include protecting homeland security, protecting economic prosperity, advancing America's influence as a superpower, and sustaining peace through strength. Trump's foreign policy is the opposite of President Obama's, and does not recognize climate change as a national security threat (although he will mention its importance, officials say). The policy's vision is for perpetually competitive international affairs in which superpowers compete for influence. President Trump predicts Russia and China to be the primary threats to U.S. dominance. President Trump will also discuss cyber hacking as a new threat.
President Trump, contrary to President Obama, has always strongly encouraged and supported an "America First" policy. I believe this attitude is certainly beneficial for America, although I believe climate change is an issue that should be heavily considered.
Discussion:
Although we do not have specific details on President Trump's plans, what do you think of his main focuses?
What are the benefits and detriments of the President's America First policy?
Is Trump delegating the necessary focus to climate change?
15 comments:
I think that the ideas included in Trump's plan are good for all Americans. The United States has been acting like a global police force and in my opinion that is bad. What happens in other countries shouldn't be our business and we shouldn't feel obliged to help or intervene. That is why we have the UN right? If the UN doesn't agree with all of our interventionist policies then maybe that means that America is trying too hard and going too far. Lots of people complain about the state of our country but don't realize that we are involved in the affairs of many other countries at the same time. I think we should spend more time and resources on improving our country than improving others. Therefore, this policy by Trump is going to be overall beneficial to our country. This is a smart policy and I would support it. But I do admit that the lack of an acknowledgment of climate change is bad and I would prefer if he tried to do something positive with the environment.
I agree with what Matt Hahn has stated in the comment above. While it is important that foreign countries are being run peacefully and smoothly, America by itself is riddled with many problems regarding security. I think that one of the most important issues regarding security right now is cyber-hacking. With the growth of a lot of new technologies and an increased use of social media, protecting confidential information stored on the internet is much more difficult. If we can invest our budget into creating more regulations and possibly adding another level of security somehow, I think it would help a lot.
I think that having a national security plan that focuses more on America could definitely be beneficial. Hopefully this plan will lead to us improving our own security since we will not be as concerned with other countries. Some of the language used such as "dominance" sounds a little too nationalistic but by being less involved with other countries maybe that will prevent conflict. I would have liked to see climate change as a part of the national security plan because I do believe it is a pressing issue especially since the United States is such a big country and is definitely contributing to global warming.
I think Trump's plans for America will be good as long as he follows through with it. For example, his plan to sustain peace through strength is important because it would allow us to step in the right direction and maintain or create strong relationships with other countries which would ideally promote unity. Moreover, I do agree with everyone that climate change is a pressing issue. The atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are at its highest ever, shrinking ice sheets, a rise in global temperatures, and more are obviously serious issues that we as a whole need to recognize.
I agree that it's good to consider America first before intervening in other countries' affairs, but I don't think Trump's desire to advance America as a superpower fits with his plan to sustain peace. As for climate change, I definitely think it should be a big influence on Trump's foreign relations plans. As Kalena said, it keeps getting worse, especially with no definite solution in place, so involving other big countries and contributors like China is important for making a plan to limit more carbon dioxide production.
Trump is inexperienced in global politics. He is taking simplistic ideas like 'America first' and applying them to big problems facing our society. Haley brings up the climate change initiative that Trump backed out of. This shows that Trump can see the financial pitfalls but can't see the big picture of helping our planet. Because there is no definite solution, however, it is hard to judge how well Trump is actually doing.
I agree that Trump is taking a bit of a simplistic stance on these extremely complex foreign policy issues, and his "America First" policy is coming across as more of an "Only America" policy. In order to sustain economic prosperity and national security, it is important the United States collaborates with and works together with countries around the world. However, Trump has shown that he does not want to do this through actions such as threatening to back out of NATO and releasing intelligence from other countries that he did not have the permission to release (Israel's intelligence about laptops). He is also the only country to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement, showing his refusal to work with other countries even on issues that are globally recognized to threaten all countries like climate change.
I also agree that "American First" would be beneficial. The US is a global power that constantly gets involved in foreign conflicts over power. We have many internal issues as a country that we need to solve first. However, I also think that Trump is taking a simplistic view of foreign policy as it would be nearly impossible to pull the US out all foreign conflicts, policies, alliances, etc., as we've been such a dominant figure in most issues across the globe. I am all for "American First" as long as Trump can figure out a way to pursue his plan while considering the effects of pulling the US out of important foreign policies and negotiations.
While I do agree that Trump's America First policy could be beneficial to Americans, a negative consequence is that it ignores the fact that the United States, while a powerful player, is not the center of the world. While this might not necessarily be true as a generalized statement, I agree with Meiling in that he is turning "America First" into an "Only America" position. Trump is only responsive to opinions and ideas that directly and substantially affect the United States, or ideas that seem to be an immediate issue, such as the economic state of the United States. However, if Trump's policy vision does not include those regarding climate change, the effects will only continue to get worse.
I'm not entirely sure if the United States can be a super power and keep to itself at the same time. One of the major reasons that America is a superpower is because we've meddled in the conflicts of other countries, and have gained resources and power from these interventions. For this reason, I'm not entirely convinced that 'America first' really means refraining from being a police force. So far we've seen Trumps attitude towards North Korea, which I would consider to be the opposite of any 'keep to ourselves' policy. This doesn't mean that I don't agree with a true America first policy, but I remain skeptical of the details in Trump's plan specifically. Climate change is also something in this plan that seems contradictory. So far Trump has tried to bring back jobs in coal and generally turned away from addressing climate change, so it makes sense that he hasn't officially announced that climate change will be part of his plan.
I'm seeing a lot of people criticizing the 'America First' Trump Doctrine as simplistic and even dubbing it the 'America Only' policy. However, these people are forgetting: isn't that the point of foreign policy? To advance your position and to promote the security of your country overseas by promoting your country's economy and stopping wars before they start? America should be following an 'America First' foreign policy: that's what they're supposed to be doing. The only countries our foreign policy should care about are ourselves and our allies. That's it. China follows a 'China First' policy. Serbia follows a 'Serbia first' policy. America shouldn't be the world's policeman or the world's philanthropist, as it was under Obama. America should follow America interests.
That being said, Trump's vision of the world is "[envisioning] nations in a perpetual state of competition," which is a gross miscalculation that countries can't come together in agreement sometimes and find common ground. Perhaps Mr. Trump could take a page out of the book of his predecessor, Richard Nixon, who started the thaw of China and began the process of detente with the Soviets.
There's also the obvious flaw of ignoring climate change as a national security threat, which is an error on his part. But his final point, sustaining peace through strength, is incredibly disquieting. "Peace through strength" is an oft-quoted phase on the right to justify military adventurism such as the Gulf War and the Iraq War. It states that an armed American military presence on every continent will help prevent another global war. This runs contrary to what many Americans believe, which is to bring the troops home and cut Defense spending. Like many of Mr. Trumps' policy positions, the Trump Doctrine of foreign policy has it's heart in the right place, but is flawed beyond any recognition of what is really best for America according to Americans.
I think that it's smart for Trump to push for economic and political success, as it only tends to improve current national conditions. However, his approach to do so may come off as more aggressive than intended to other countries. He seems to constantly compete in international affairs and promote his 'US first' mindset, which other countries probably won't take a liking too. His intentions may be to protect the country, however his attitude and approach may be harmful. Furthermore, I think that climate change should be another priority of his. It's no surprise that coal and other harmful sources of energy continue to harm our planet, and to prevent this from happening to preserve the environment for future generations, we must take initiative and start bringing change. I think Trump thinks too little of a problem that is potentially dangerous for the entire world in the near future.
I agree with Granger's first paragraph. He articulated more clearly what I was trying to express in my first comment and everyone should read the first part of his comment because that analysis shows how Trump's decision makes sense, is beneficial, and is consistent with how the rest of the world operates.
I agree with Connor's statement about being a super power and keeping to ourselves at the same time. It seems counterintuitive that Trump wants to be a dominant force in the international affairs, but also stay true to his "America First" motto. I do believe it is important to keep America's best interest in mind when it comes to foreign policy, but such a selfish outlook on affairs seems like a dangerous game to play. I also think that Trump is making a mistake by not highlighting climate change as a national security threat, because personally, I see it as one of the biggest threats to our citizen's future. Trump should acknowledge that man's impact on climate change is a huge deal and should try to prevent any further imprint we have left on the environment.
I think that Trump's doctrine of America first is somewhat contradictory because he attempts to focus on the well-being of America by improving the economy (I think it's debatable that economic growth is based on Trump's policy, or that the changes he's making benefits everybody, but that's another topic to be discussed), but Trump also is trying to involve himself in foreign affairs even more, such as growing the military. At this point, he's just making broad, encompassing statements but not implementing effective changes to address them.
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