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By Ken Abramowitz, founder and president, SaveTheWest.com
Are you hungry? Then eat! Are you tired? Then sleep! Burned out by work? Then go on vacation!
Don’t be ashamed. All of these actions are in your self-interest.
However, sometimes you can eat too much or sleep too little, which is not in your self-interest, particularly long-term.
National security policy analysis is not much different. Countries are obviously allowed to act in their own self-interest, but they sometimes confuse short-term and long-term interests. They also sometimes confuse the country’s interests with the political interests of the chief executive.
So is America acting well in its own self-interest? Yes and no!
- Yes: President Trump announced that the U.S. will leave the intermediate nuclear arms treaty because Russia is violating it, and China is not even included in it.
- Yes: President Trump is consolidating the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem into the U.S. embassy there.
- Yes: President Trump is pressuring Central American countries to stop the illegal migration invasion from their countries into the U.S., via our porous southern border.
- No: The U.S. is talking with Taliban representatives — without Afghan government officials in the room — when there is no non-military solution in Afghanistan.
- No: The U.S. is trying to create an Israeli/Palestinian Authority peace plan that incorporates and seeks to combine Muslim Brotherhood-occupied Gaza, and PLO control over 40% of Judea/Samaria, while both of these governments are un-elected and illegal.
So why would the U.S. government want to act against its own self-interest?
Short-term political interests certainly represent powerful forces of disruption for long-term policy integrity. Too bad, but welcome to life in a democratic republic!
Additional reading
Trump says US will withdraw from nuclear arms treaty with Russia | World news | The Guardian
Trump threatens to close US-Mexico border over Honduran migrant caravan | US news | The Guardian
Afghanistan: Taliban says U.S. envoy held talks on efforts to end war – The Washington Post
U.S.-Taliban Talks: Afghan Government Wasn’t In The Room, Crocker Says – NPR
As Gaza worsens, Abbas controls fate of US peace plan – The Times of Israel
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