"A 20-Point Program that could serve as the basis for a left-wing foreign policy in a future democratic socialist presidential administration."
1) Establish a task force to review America's global basing posture with an eye toward base closures
2) Est. TF on climate change and est. a multilateral group to address climate problems
3) Est. a TF review American to cut defense spending
4) Est. a TF to examine the institutions of US foreign policymaking with an eye toward reforming the entire policymaking structure
5) Begin the process of re-funding the nation's area studies programs by increasing support for language learning and study abroad
6) Est. an anti-corruption TF to explore the relationship between the defense industry and the government
7) Issue an executive order making it illegal for former government and military officials to consult or work for the defense industry
8) Est. a TF to analyze and issue recommendations concerning the five populated US-controlled territories with an eye toward giving the peoples of these territories meaningful representation in the government
9) Joining international institutions like the International Criminal Court
10) Enact a humane immigration policy focused on refugee resettlement
11) Issue an executive order that provides blanket amnesty to undocumented immigrants
12) Issue an Ex. Or. that dismantles ICE
13) Enact sanctions against US companies that sell surveillance and other technologies to authoritarian governments.
14) Drastically increase State Department funding and transform the education of diplomats.
15) Order the Department of Justice to investigate war crimes committed by previous administrations (Republican and Democratic both), with an eye toward prosecuting violators.
16) End the United States’ contribution to NATO
17) Prevent the military from flying jets over sporting events and end other public displays of military virtuosity
18) Order the military to stop working with movie and video game companies
19) Pardon whistleblowers
20) Establish a task force to review the process for fulfilling Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and immediately release all documents more than 25-years old
fx.substack.com/p/building-back-better
1) Establish a task force to review America's global basing posture with an eye toward base closures
2) Est. TF on climate change and est. a multilateral group to address climate problems
3) Est. a TF review American to cut defense spending
4) Est. a TF to examine the institutions of US foreign policymaking with an eye toward reforming the entire policymaking structure
5) Begin the process of re-funding the nation's area studies programs by increasing support for language learning and study abroad
6) Est. an anti-corruption TF to explore the relationship between the defense industry and the government
7) Issue an executive order making it illegal for former government and military officials to consult or work for the defense industry
8) Est. a TF to analyze and issue recommendations concerning the five populated US-controlled territories with an eye toward giving the peoples of these territories meaningful representation in the government
9) Joining international institutions like the International Criminal Court
10) Enact a humane immigration policy focused on refugee resettlement
11) Issue an executive order that provides blanket amnesty to undocumented immigrants
12) Issue an Ex. Or. that dismantles ICE
13) Enact sanctions against US companies that sell surveillance and other technologies to authoritarian governments.
14) Drastically increase State Department funding and transform the education of diplomats.
15) Order the Department of Justice to investigate war crimes committed by previous administrations (Republican and Democratic both), with an eye toward prosecuting violators.
16) End the United States’ contribution to NATO
17) Prevent the military from flying jets over sporting events and end other public displays of military virtuosity
18) Order the military to stop working with movie and video game companies
19) Pardon whistleblowers
20) Establish a task force to review the process for fulfilling Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and immediately release all documents more than 25-years old
fx.substack.com/p/building-back-better
Substack
Building Back Better
The incoming Biden administration likely represents a return to US foreign policy as usual. Here's how a future left-wing administration could begin to improve on that.
"Think about it for a moment: possibly the most crucial relationship on the planet between what looks like a rising and a falling great power (in a world that desperately needs their cooperation) is being significantly influenced by experts and officials invested in the industry guaranteed to militarize that very relationship and create a twenty-first-century version of the Cold War.
Any administration, in other words, lives in something like an echo chamber that continually affirms the need for a yet greater defense build-up led by those who would gain most from it."
https://truthout.org/articles/a-think-tank-echo-chamber-is-thirsting-for-a-new-cold-war-with-china/
Any administration, in other words, lives in something like an echo chamber that continually affirms the need for a yet greater defense build-up led by those who would gain most from it."
https://truthout.org/articles/a-think-tank-echo-chamber-is-thirsting-for-a-new-cold-war-with-china/
Truthout
A Think Tank Echo Chamber Is Thirsting for a New Cold War With China
Many of the top think tank recipients of foreign funding are also top recipients of funding from US weapons makers.