A New Foreign Policy: Beyond American Exceptionalism

I am pleasently surprised to see an economist as well read and educated on International Relations in general and American Foreign Policy in particular. I considered myself something of an expert on the topic, but I am actaully learning a lot from this book. Definetely worth getting.

The book presents good themes etc ... but when I opened the box this morning, the book was sticky and a little bit dirty! This is probably the only case in which judging a book by its cover is totally appropriated.

Jeffrey Sachs is an economics professor at Columbia University. His book explains U.S. foreign policy since 1945 and advocates a nicer, kinder America going forward. A New Foreign Policy is well written and an unlikely page-turner. Sachs believes that the defining characteristics of the U.S. approach to the world since 1945 have been “American exceptionalism” and relentless war. The focus on military might and the pursuit of primacy has embroiled us in unwise and unwinnable wars. Sachs believes that exceptionalism is a "dangerous illusion." He wants the U.S. to change its approach to the world and make global cooperation the unifying principle of our foreign policy.Sachs argues that we were once an economic colossus, but over time other countries have caught up. For all the current strength of the American economy, the country now lacks the economic clout to bend the world to its liking. Our share of world output was 30% in 1950, it is about 15% today. The U.S. is no longer the economic powerhouse it once was. The U.S government has debt of $22 trillion. The debt/GDP ratio is 106%, it was 25% in the 1970s. Ken Rogoff, a Harvard economics professor, has advised that 90% should be the limit for a well-run economy. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq cost $6 trillion. Sachs argues that tax cuts and defense spending since the Reagan era have been paid for with increased borrowing. In reality, the cost has been deferred and future generations will pick up the tab The U.S. can't really afford another major war. An arms race with China would also be a mistake. The U.S. has probably reached what Yale history professor Paul Kennedy called imperial over-stretch. Sachs argues that the Washington foreign policy establishment is in denial and it does not accept that America’s place in the world is changing.Sachs identifies four main strands of thinking in American foreign policy:Group 1: The Imperialists. Their world view is based on an American Empire model using a carrot and stick approach. America is number one and it plans on staying that way. It insists on military dominance, not just deterrence. It wants to remain a global hegemon, forever. The U.S. has 800 bases around the world, in 70 countries. America’s potential adversaries are usually viewed as evil (e,g., Putin, Kim, ISIS, Assad). For decades the U.S. has forcibly overthrown regimes it considers hostile to its interests, usually in Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. The U.S. encourages democracy and is a benign and generous overlord providing the satellites in its orbit play by its rules (e.g., Germany, Japan, and South Korea). The flip side is that potential rivals are viewed as a threat. In the past, Britain (1940s and 1950s), Japan (1980s), and Russia (1990s) have been stomped on when they behaved in a manner the U.S. disapproved. Currently, we seem to be unhappy with North Korea, Russia, Iran, Venezuela, Syria, Germany, Yemen, China, and the EU. Trump will issue the occasional threat as he attempts to bring them into line.Group 2: Benign Imperialism. Like Group 1 but more touchy-feely. They believe that the U.S. is an exceptional country and uniquely virtuous and this gives it the right to rule the world. The U.S. is the indispensable nation and nobody else has the required wisdom and expertise to lead. God is on our side because wealth is a sign of God’s providence. The president is the leader of the free world and is like a good shepherd protecting his flock. They believe that America has acted as a force for good in the world and has given the West peace and stability. If America wasn’t running the show the jungle would grow back and bad people, like ISIS and Putin, would take over. This is basically the version of America that Hollywood sells to the world. We are the good guys and the president is tough, fair, and wise (e.g., Michael Douglas, Martin Sheen).Group 3: Trumpism. Sachs believes Trump is a nationalist and unilateralist. Sachs dislikes President Trump with a passion. Sachs argues that Trump’s “America First” ideology is “a variant of exceptionalism, adding xenophobia, racism, and protectionism to more traditional exceptionalist approaches.” Trump seems to have concluded that the U.S. can no longer afford to be a global hegemon. He also seems to believe that his predecessors were naive and the U.S. is being ripped off by the rest of the world. Trump attacks freeloaders and trade cheats who exploit U.S. friendship. Trump also believes that illegal immigration is a problem that must be addressed. Sachs shows that the population of the West is in relative decline, while the population of the rest of the world is growing rapidly (e.g., the population of Nigeria is forecast to increase from 190 million to 900 million by 2100). Trump wants to limit Third World immigration to the U.S. Sachs also wants to limit immigration, but he would do it in a more PC way.Group 4: Sachs calls this Internationalism. He believes that current U.S. Foreign policy is unsustainable. Sachs takes a much less benign view of the use of U.S. power in the 20th century. He argues that the U.S. has been constantly at war since 1945, with the CIA operating as the president’s secret army. Sachs lists the regimes the U.S. has changed since 1945. He does not believe that the U.S. has the right to overthrow governments that it disapproves of. He argues that China now has a bigger economy, it is 24% larger in real terms. Going forward it won’t be bullied and the U.S. will damage itself if it tries. He believes that big global problems like global warming can only be solved with peaceful cooperation between nations. Sachs believes in globalism and wants the U.S. to comply with international law and work with the UN. He believes that the U.S. risks becoming a rogue nation.Sachs makes a lot of interesting points and I found this book very educational:• Sachs advocates working with other countries and the UN to help solve the world’s problems. He quotes Deuteronomy and the Gospels and suggests, more or less, that we should love our neighbors as ourselves.• He wants to help the global poor. He believes that the U.S. aid budget at 0.18% of GDP is too small. Britain and Germany give 0.7%.• Sachs wants to build a multipolar world that is prosperous, peaceful, fair, and resilient.• He’s a fan of FDR and JFK who liked multilateral institutions. He wants us to follow their lead. FDR created the UN and the other Bretton Woods institutions.• He is appalled by Trump’s America First policies and believes that his unilateralist policies and bullying are alienating friends and foes alike. He believes that this poses a threat to our national interest. President Macron of France recently stated that the EU needed an army to protect itself from Russia, China, and the U.S.• Sachs believes that global warming is a serious problem that must be addressed. He is angry that Trump and most Republicans dispute the science.• He wants us to pull out of the Middle East. He believes that we have made a terrible mess in the region and our military presence is now counterproductive.• As of 2014, U.S. multinationals had outsourced 1.5 million jobs to China and Mexico. This amounts to just 1% of the U.S. labor force. Manufacturing jobs only employ 8% of the workforce, down from 25% in 1970. Sachs believes that eventually all manufacturing jobs will be replaced by machines. He suggests that trying to bring back manufacturing jobs may be futile.• Sachs claims that Trump wants to cut foreign aid and the UN budget. In total these represent 0.2% of GDP which is peanuts in the scheme of things. Sachs argues that this funding provides significant soft power and it would be a PR disaster if it was cut significantly.Sachs believes that Russia has good reasons to be hostile to the U.S. Sachs was an adviser to Gorbachev and Yeltsin during the 1990s. He was able to observe American foreign policy up close, from the other side of the table. He suggests that George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Albright treated Russia as an enemy and did not invite it to join the West, which is what Gorbachev and Yeltsin wanted. He suggests that the military-industrial-intelligence complex still needed an enemy. NATO expanded eastwards despite the assurances given to Gorbachev that it would not happen. George Kennan told Bill Clinton in 1997 that his anti-Russian policies wound restart the Cold War. Russia lost 40% of its GDP. Russians felt humiliated and then elected a strongman (i.e., Putin) to stand up to the West. Putin has responded by attacking Georgia and Ukraine and cozying up to China. Putin demonstrated to Russians that he won’t be pushed around and appears to be popular. A New Foreign Policy is a thought-provoking read.

Just beginning to read Sachs" book and expect to find this offering as intelligent and thoughtful as he usually is; but the anti-Trump diatribes are not only tiresome , as the book opens with many of these, but invalid for the most part because Sachs' premise about "American exceptionalism", etc. is understandable but questionable; he unfairly blames Trump by mischaracterizing such a policy as "America First" when Trump had every good reason to argue that populist position and at the same time maintained friendlier relations with most countries than ever before; so what do we have today, Mr. Sachs? nothing less than "America Last" in just about everything!

Jeffrey Sachs explains how essential changes in US foreign policy have the power to redeem America and benefit the whole of the world community.