"God bless America", to a certain extent

 It must not be easy to assemble the future Biden-Harris cabinet. Striking the right balance between racial and ethnic diversity, gender, progressives and moderates, with nods to potential Republican friends so as to cement the future relationship with the Senate, are all part of a difficult equation to muster. However, the process proceeds step by step and in a straight line. The presentation of part of the foreign policy and security team marked an important first milestone, reinforcing the sense of relief for those who have suffered the Trumpian chaos. A capable team was up on the stage. One that is likely to put public policy at the forefront, with dialogue and argumentation, two qualities that seemed to be deteriorating fast as of late.  

Antony Blinken, the designated Secretary of State, spoke at the presentation of the first nominees for the future cabinet. During a passage in his speech, he became personal and commented on the story of his stepfather, who had managed to escape a death march  at the end of World War II, taking refuge in the forests of Bavaria. Blinken told how his stepfather heard the rumbling of a tank, which instead of the iron cross had the white star on the sides. At that moment  the stepfather ran to the tank. A stunned African-American GI  stuck his head out, looked at him, and the stepfather spoke the only words he knew in English: “God bless America”.

That comment, in a sense, sums up the new approach in foreign policy. By picking a story that took place at a moment in history in which the United States assumed a leadership never before exercised, Blinken declared their desire to resume the tradition of defense and promotion of the liberal international order, based on certain principles, such as the defense of democracy, human rights and freedom. The main recipient of this message from the new administration is, without a doubt, Western Europe, who has seen how their great ally ignored its transatlantic commitments, based on an absurd and incoherent transactional nationalist notion of "America first." 

The construction of the liberal international order was an important antidote to fascism and, when such a threat was defeated, it also did its part to confront the totalitarian impulses of Stalinism and Soviet communism, as well as the atrocious measures of the Maoist regime and its multiple derivations, all marked by the suppression of the most fundamental human rights. The announcement of a return to this perspective is also a way to build bridges for a new dialogue on how to face current geopolitical trends, with the presence of  large and intermediate  powers that do not necessarily agree with the aforementioned principles. 

The return to such an approach is most welcome, but it doesn't hurt to remember here that US foreign policy has had other facets. One could apply to US foreign policy, the same metaphor used by Octavio Paz to describe the State as an entity. We refer to the title of Paz’s  work the Philanthropic Ogre. Indeed,  during  the postwar and cold war years, US foreign policy was as influenced by the doctrine of national security as it was by the principles of the liberal international order. Latin America suffered the consequences of this policy firsthand. From those times came the expression “he is a s.o.b., but he's our s.o.b.”. Dictators of all kinds were supported with the excuse of anti-communism; Democratically elected leaders like Salvador Allende were overthrown by coups. Young people were tortured and disappeared. There is a long list of excesses. In other latitudes, who doesn't remember the image of the My Lai massacre, in Vietnam, on March 16, 1968, where 500 defenseless villagers died, victims of that same white star before which Antony Blinken's stepfather had knelt. 

The philanthropist cannot just slip the ogre under the rug. In this new era, moreover, the defense of the liberal international order must unfold in a very changed environment. The threats come from disparate regimes and places. From high-tech surveillance regimes, through the new-breed of nationalist populisms, to more traditional patrimonial authoritarianism. On the other hand, the US is no longer the same. Its  leadership has declined in part because of an America-first policy, but also for more underlying reasons that have to do with a domestic situation much less enabling to exercise world leadership. Its economic, political and moral base requires urgent attention. 

The prominent defense spending, such as that of the Trump era, is not sustainable, resuming the bipartisan consensus for a foreign policy of reconciliation is not assured, social fragmentation is at a peak, not to mention the disarray caused by the pandemic. So, when Blinken said "we can't do it alone," he was telling a great truth. One that should be accompanied by a less grandiose self adulation, which US foreign policy is sometimes prone to fall into, and a more tempered return to a dialogue of peers.

The original Spanish version of this post can be found in Blogs El Tiempo at the following link:https://blogs.eltiempo.com/sentidopoliticoestabancaballero/2020/11/27/god-bless-america-hasta-cierto-punto/