Foreign Policy

As a reminder, the library is closed today, so there will be no Beyond Labels meeting.

Next week, we’ve agreed to discuss “Democracy” in the context of other countries and cultures:

• Is supporting democracy in all countries a sensible policy?
• Is that policy beneficial to U.S. interests:
  • Short term?
  • Long term?
• Is democracy a good fit with all cultures? If not, should the mode of government change, or should the culture be changed?
• Over what time period?
• And what do we mean by “democracy” in this context?

We’ll turn our attention back to foreign policy tomorrow with a discussion focused on Turkey and the Kurds.

The US considers both to be our allies, but there is a huge amount of historical friction between them, with the Turkish government labeling Kurdish groups and individuals as “terrorists.” On the other hand, Peshmerga fighters have been some of the most effective local forces in combating ISIS.

Some of these frictions have driven Turkey closer to Russia, which has become a (more) significant presence in neighboring Syria. But they’re still members of NATO, and the US relies on Turkey for logistics, staging and assets in the region.

How should the US navigate the many issues arising out of our presence in Iraq, “Kurdistan,” Turkey and Syria?

After spending a brief time discussing the Trump Administration’s actions with respect to Israel, Iran, Pakistan and North Korea (then getting diverted to other topics), we decided to revisit these subjects in a broader context:

Are the world’s institutions (the UN, NATO, US trade partners, etc.) able to deal with what to some people appears to be a “one-man wrecking crew” in the form of our current President.

We’ll see!

See you tomorrow.