Jewish World Review March 22, 2000 / 15 Adar II, 5760
IN DIRECTOR-WRITER Rod Lurie's compelling
new film, "Deterrence," a rearmed Iraq
reinvades Kuwait in the year 2008 and a
U.S. President is suddenly caught in a frightening
nuclear showdown.
Political science fiction? Not entirely. When today's nuttiest
despots — and most frightening terrorists — can purchase
big-weapon know-how from dollar starved Russians, it's precisely
the kind of international high drama that the leader of the world's
only superpower must know how to face down.
So why are the briefing books of this year's U.S. presidential
candidates so thin in foreign policy positions? Recently, we took a
look at the global views of Republicans George W. Bush and John
McCain. Today it's Democrat Al Gore's turn, and the pickings are
a little better, but not by much.
True, the vice president is no stranger to the world scene. As his
campaign pros enthusiastically tell you, Gore has been "a key
player in American foreign policy for more than two decades."
So where are the specifics of how this foreign affairs maven would
handle crisis as a President?
Take global terrorism, for example. It's a no-brainer to simply say
"we must redouble our commitment to fighting terrorism through
diplomacy and international cooperation." Would President Gore
take military action against terrorists? Would he impose
iron-strong sanctions against nations supporting terrorism? Would
he back a serious international agency that battles terrorism on the
ground?
One thing Gore would do — and he emphasizes it over and over
— is have this country pay its long overdue UN dues. He rightly
feels that this would not only ensure our seat at the table of this
imperfect but crucial forum, but enable us to "share the security
burden with our allies."
Gore also wants Congress to ante up the budgets needed to
strengthen America's armed forces, and to finance our global
leadership. "Right now," he says, "foreign affairs adds up to just
one penny for every dollar in our federal budget."
He wants Congress to stop cutting budgets for our embassies'
security, for fighting nuclear smuggling and for dismantling nuclear
weapons in the former Soviet Union. Furthermore, he wants to
increase aid to "countries in the midst of democratic transition."
Like his Republican rivals, Gore also insists we have to engage
Russia and China and "not pretend we can turn our backs on
them." Yet while he urges that we integrate these nations into the
world economy and encourage their efforts toward reform, like his
Republican counterpart, he provides no detailed plans on how to
do this.
I'm also troubled by the lack of any clear indications of how Gore
would deal with our closest neighbors in Latin America, or what
he proposes about aid for Africa, or how he would deal with the
ongoing problems in the former Yugoslavia. And there's nothing of
substance on what this country can contribute to the global battle
against AIDS.
The one area where Gore has been steadfastly clear is on the
Middle East. One of Israel's strongest supporters over the years,
he is deeply committed to helping broker a Mideast peace that
would give the Palestinians the sense of national expression that
they long for, but wouldn't sacrifice Israel's security in the process.
So what we need from Gore and from Bush are some more
specifics. I for one would like to know whom these candidates
would envisage as their secretary of state. Next to the President,
that's the key foreign affairs figure.
The voting public deserves to know
By Richard Z. Chesnoff
JWR contributor and veteran journalist
Richard Z. Chesnoff is a senior correspondent at US News
And World Report and a columnist at the NY Daily News. His latest book is Pack of Thieves: How Hitler & Europe
Plundered the Jews and Committed the Greatest Theft in History.
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