Famous American analyst: American parties are useless in foreign policy

According to RCO News Agency, “Kamala Harris” and “Donald Trump”, the Democratic and Republican candidates in the US presidential elections, have published official statements in which they explain their policies for the four-year presidential term, but “Steven Walt”, an expert in political science and The professor of international relations at Harvard University believes that these statements do not represent the real policies of the candidates and do not help voters make decisions.

Steven Walt wrote an article in the American media “Foreign Policy”, pointing out that some people think that it is possible to understand the real positions of politicians by reading these statements: “I have read both statements, I tell you that you should bother reading them. do not give “At least in the realm of foreign policy, these documents do not provide much information about the outlook for events in 2025 and beyond.”

This analyst says that Donald Trump’s statement has no sign of a political vision document and is more like the messages that he publishes in an angry tone in cyberspace. According to this analyst, Trump’s statement is so vague that it is completely useless and does not provide an explanation about the relations of the US government with the countries of the world.

On the other hand, this analyst says that the statement of the Democratic candidate is long, serious and somewhat boring and makes many promises that no president will be able to fulfill. This document praises the policies of the Joe Biden government in crises such as the war in Gaza and Ukraine and contains a lot of information, but there is no mention of what the foreign policy of Kamala Harris will be if she wins the election.

According to Walt, to understand how to interpret these statements, we need to understand that these documents are more indicative of who within each party has enough political power to write down and publish their views in these documents. The analyst says the document released by the Republican Party shows that the party, once a “proud and principled” political organization, has now come under the complete control of Donald Trump.

On the other hand, the Democratic document shows that the foreign policy of the candidate of this party supports the interests of interest groups and key stakeholders of the Democratic Party. That’s why the document praises Biden’s patchy performance record while criticizing trade policies that weaken the middle class.

According to Walt, the Democratic document represents the interests of the various groups that support the party, which is why, although the document rejects endless wars, it still portrays a world in which the United States “must take a leadership role on the world stage.” keep it.”

Why should you not take these statements seriously?

The American analyst says that American presidents have a lot of freedom of action in the field of foreign policy and will not be bound by the election documents that were compiled to attract voters.

Although presidents cannot ignore what big donors or interest groups ask of them, they will not be bound by their wishes, especially in the first months of their tenure when they do not yet need their support to win the next election.

On the other hand, this report states that congressional committees and prominent figures of the ruling parties do not play an influential role in the defense and foreign policies of the government based in the White House, stating: “Presidents need the support of Congress to approve the budget and approve their domestic policies.” But what a president does in the field of foreign and defense policy depends more on him.

In the Foreign Policy report, the significant support of Senator “Bernie Sanders” for Biden’s candidacy in the 2020 elections is mentioned, but the American media has reminded that after Biden’s victory, none of Sanders’ close associates in his government got important jobs and the views of this senator American is always ignored in the field of foreign policy.

In addition, the arguments and positions that seem attractive before the political prospects and attract attention in the elections, are often examined from a different angle after the elections and when the new government takes office.

For example, during the 1992 election, Democratic Party candidate Bill Clinton repeatedly asked George H.W. W. Bush criticized him for turning a blind eye to what Clinton called “human rights abuses in China,” but when he came to power, he realized that he had little power against Beijing and was better off downplaying the issue.

The American analyst also pointed out that in the 2020 election, Biden strongly criticized Trump’s reliance on tariffs and his withdrawal from the nuclear deal with Iran, but when he came to power, he maintained many of the economic restrictions of the Trump era and never to His election promise to revive the JCPOA did not work.

The report states: “Parties’ political statements are also misleading because they overpromise and under-deliver.”

“These manifestos are a list of demands that a party promises to deliver, so they don’t downplay or announce all the political obstacles that make those goals difficult to achieve,” says Steven Walt.

On the other hand, although American presidents have significant personal powers in foreign policy, they not only face competing currents, but also have to satisfy different currents in their supporters. Time and political capital are limited, and politicians are forced to postpone or completely abandon some of the ambitious goals they put forward in their pre-election political statements.

In addition, no party or candidate can predict what events will happen after taking office and what decisions will have to be made. The United States is not the only power in the world, and many unexpected events are ahead of the next American government.

According to the American analyst, “George Bush” did not predict the attacks of September 11, “Barack Obama” could not predict the Arab Spring, the Corona epidemic confused Trump, and Joe Biden also faced 2 major wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

Steven Walt says that the documents published by the Republican and Democratic parties are useful to attract the attention of the supporters of these two parties, but it should be kept in mind that no president will review these documents and perspectives after the end of the election and coming to power.

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