Skip to main content

What you don’t know about Bernie Sanders’ foreign policy

So now we know that Bernie Sanders’s ambition to renew US politics does not stop at the water’s edge. Last week, when presenting his foreign policy vision at Westminster College, Sanders did not limit himself to the moral deficit of U.S. national security orthodoxy. He squarely targeted core aspects of American foreign strategy. And rightfully so. More than six months after the election, Sanders is by far the most popular politician in America.

by Ali Naraghi

During the election, voters were repeatedly told that Sanders lacked a “serious” foreign policy vision. However, the Vermont senator has an impressive record of being on the right side of history. From the Vietnam War to the invasion of Iraq, Sanders has opposed the Washington Consensus, which seamlessly goes from one disaster to another.

In keeping with the theme of his 2016 campaign, Sanders connected the bloated military budget to domestic poverty plaguing America. “Foreign policy is not just tied into military affairs; it is directly connected to economics,” Sanders said. “Foreign policy must take into account the outrageous income and wealth inequality that exists globally and in our own country.” He added, “they must be understood as part of the same system and fought in the same way.”

This is, after all, a country that has overwhelmingly passed a $700 billion defense bill; meanwhile, as Sanders puts it, “they want to throw 32 million Americans off of the health insurance they currently have because, supposedly, they are worried about the budget deficit.”

Within his speech, Sanders also drew attention to the double standards that have undermined U.S. credibility around the world. He justified this by citing disastrous regime change policies in Iraq, as well as CIA-backed coups against Chilean leader Salvador Allende and Mohammed Mossadegh’s democratically elected government in Iran. He reminded his audience that the rise of “inequality, corruption, oligarchy, and authoritarianism are inseparable,” and that “[we] cannot convincingly promote democracy abroad if we do not live it vigorously at home.”

Later, in an interview with The Intercept’s Mehdi Hasan, Sanders doubled down on his past argument that “Israel’s continued occupation of Palestinian territories” has been “contrary to fundamental American values,” slamming both parties as “complicit” because of the unconditional support for Israel and its treatment of Palestinians. For those who want peace, these are important remarks that would help shift the “Overton Window” on this static policy – much like what he has done domestically on the healthcare front.

His responses to the War on Terror and the subsequent U.S. blunders in the Middle East are no different: “As an organizing framework, the Global War on Terror has been a disaster for the American people and for American leadership.” Sanders continued: “Orienting U.S. national security strategy around terrorism essentially allowed a few thousand violent extremists to dictate policy for the most powerful nation on earth.” What is astounding about this statement is not that it diminishes the prevailing War on Terror narrative, but that it represents a fundamental distinction from the positions of both the Democratic and Republican establishment.

In truth, Sanders’s ideas have long reflected public opinion. Recent polls have consistently shown that the majority of Americans oppose expanding military presence overseas, and favour diplomacy over preputial wars abroad. In holding these views, Sanders is in tune with the anti-intervention sentiment that has grown alongside the anti-establishment wave sweeping the West.

Sanders’ approach can open the political space for a progressive coalition among both the anti-interventionist left and the isolationist right. These are the same economically disillusioned voters who crave a genuine alternative and are ignored for doing so. Indeed, before morphing into a full-fledged neocon, Trump himself harnessed those sentiments to beat Hillary Clinton.

Bernie’s criticism of American foreign policy draws attention to the international policy that fuels massive inequality at home and spreads insecurity overseas. Reaching back into the dark history of CIA coups during the Cold War, Sanders points out that when the United States artificially interrupts the organic political progression of other nations, it generally backfires. His logic on the War on Terror fits into the same pattern: it is expensive, isn’t working and it’s damaging U.S. interests in the long run.

Just like his economic policies, many of Sanders’s foreign policy stances will be smeared as dangerous and appalling to the political class. But they are the ones that increasingly reflect the views of the wider population.

Source, links:

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Oct. 7 Reports Implode: Beheaded Babies, NY Times Scandal, & More

Glenn Greenwald    

Israel’s Descent Into Madness & the Holocaust Comparison

BreakThrough News   Rania Khalek was joined by Tarik Cyril Amar, a historian from Germany and associate professor at Koc University in Istanbul, to discuss Israel’s descent into genocidal fascism. Prof. Amar addresses whether it’s useful to make Holocaust and Nazi comparisons and the real reason behind the West’s unshakeable loyalty attitude when it comes to Israel’s barbarism.   

Zionist and US imperialist criminals are about to grab the natural gas off shore Gaza

globinfo freexchange   As the genocide against Palestinians of Gaza is about to be completed with an act of unprecedented brutality by the Zionists and butcher Netanyahu through the bombardment of about 1.4 million civilians in Rafah, it seems that they have already set their next primary goal. Which, in short, is to grab the natural gas resources off shore Gaza, together with their US imperialist buddies whose contribution to the genocide has been undoubtedly critical.     As already reported , in 2007, Hamas came to power and Israel launched an offensive on Gaza Strip, leaving behind 1,400 dead Palestinians, but taking with it the gas fields. Within a year, Israel announced the discovery of the Leviathan natural gas field, which did include Gaza's riches, valued at 453 billion dollars. But Gazans have been denied around 47 billion dollars in revenue. As for Tel Aviv, it's gunning to become a new hub. At that moment in time, that is 2022, Russian oil and gas were sanctioned.

Neocon Queen Victoria Nuland Ends Her Reign: Exposing a Catastrophic Career

Glenn Greenwald    

Το σκάσιμο της φούσκας Μητσοτάκη με νέα επίσημη χρεοκοπία και οριστικό τέλος της μεταπολίτευσης

του system failure   Τα αποτελέσματα των εκλογών της 25ης Ιουνίου ήταν λίγο-πολύ αναμενόμενα όσον αφορά τις πρώτες θέσεις με βάση και τα αποτελέσματα της πρώτης κάλπης του Μαίου. Αν συμπεριλάβουμε και το ποσοστό της αναμενόμενης αποχής, δεν μας έδωσαν κάποια ιδιαίτερη έκπληξη. Αυτό όμως που φαίνεται να αιφνιδίασε ακόμα και το συστημικό κατεστημένο, είναι η είσοδος των δύο υπερσυντηρητικών, ακροδεξιών κομμάτων Νίκη και Σπαρτιάτες, με το τελευταίο να έχει ξεκάθαρες διασυνδέσεις με τον πρώην Χρυσαυγίτη, Ηλία Κασιδιάρη. Παρά τη μεγάλη νίκη Μητσοτάκη, οι μιντιακοί ινστρούχτορες της καθεστωτικής προπαγάνδας εμφανίστηκαν σε γενικές γραμμές "μουδιασμένοι" και αυτό οφείλεται στο γεγονός ότι το συστημικό κατεστημένο (δηλαδή τα μεγάλα οικονομικά συμφέροντα που ελέγχουν και το σύνολο των μεγάλων ΜΜΕ πανελλαδικής εμβέλειας), πέτυχε μόνο έναν από τους τέσσερις μεγάλους στόχους που είχε θέσει εξ'αρχής. Μιλώντας με ποδοσφαιρικούς όρους, ουσιαστικά έχασε με σκορ 3-1.   Ο μεγάλος στόχος πο

Τυχαία γεγονότα στην τριτοκοσμική μπανανία των Βαλκανίων

failed evolution   1) Συμβαίνει το μεγαλύτερο σιδηροδρομικό δυστύχημα στην ιστορία της χώρας. 2) Γίνεται αστραπιαία επιχείρηση μοντάζ των συνομιλιών του σταθμάρχη από μηχανισμό του καθεστώτος, πριν ακόμα φτάσει στα χέρια των αρχών, προκειμένου να αποδοθεί η τραγωδία αποκλειστικά σε ανθρώπινο λάθος και να βγουν από το κάδρο οι πολιτικές ευθύνες ανώτατων κυβερνητικών αξιωματούχων. 3) Αναπαράγεται το παραποιημένο υλικό αστραπιαία από ναυαρχίδα της καθεστωτικής προπαγάνδας. 4) Τοποθετείται επικεφαλής στην επιτροπή-παρωδία πρωτοπαλίκαρο του καθεστώτος Μητσοτάκη που εργάζονταν παλιά στην ίδια αυτή ναυαρχίδα. 5) Η επιτροπή κλείνει άρον-άρον την υπόθεση αποκλείοντας ουσιώδεις μάρτυρες που είχαν προειδοποιήσει επανειλημμένα τον αρμόδιο υπουργό για τον κίνδυνο μεγάλου δυστυχήματος. Σταματάει έτσι και η όποια σε βάθος διερεύνηση για την τσιμεντοποίηση του χώρου και την απόπειρα συγκάλυψης της τραγωδίας.  

The Shadowy, Intelligence-Linked Group Driving the US Towards War With Iran

"United Against Nuclear Iran does not miss an opportunity to try to bring the United States closer to a military conflict with Iran. And on the other side of the equation, they also have worked very hard to oppose efforts to de-escalate the U.S.-Iran relationship."   by Alan Macleod   Part 7 - A Lesson From History   The history of Iran has been intimately intertwined with the United States since at least 1953 when Washington orchestrated a successful coup against Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh. Mosaddegh had refused U.S. demands to stamp out Communist influences in his country and had nationalized the nation’s oil. The U.S. installed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi as a puppet ruler. An unpopular and authoritarian ruler, the Shah was overthrown in the Revolution of 1979. Since then, it has become a target for regime change, and its nuclear program is something of an obsession in the West. Often orchestrated by UANI officials while they were in government, the U.S. has carried

How the CIA oversees the Ukraine proxy war on Russia

Geopolitical Economy Report   Several reports in mainstream US media outlets show how the CIA has helped to direct the proxy war against Russia in Ukraine, and played a role in causing the conflict in the first place. Ben Norton examines the evidence.   Related: Confirmed: US imperialists wanted to drag Russia into a war with Ukraine since at least 2019

Israel Carries Out Most Sadistic Massacre, Opens Fire On Gaza Aid Convoy

Richard Medhurst  

The real reason behind TikTok ban

Glenn Greenwald /  Richard Medhurst