WILL TRUMP SEND THE GOOD PARTS OF THE U.S. DOWN THE “SWAMP DRAIN”?

….As the transition leader, VP-elect Pence got rid of these…but are they gone for good?????

 

Trump still doesn’t seem to understand that the US is still the world’s only superpower.

 

Donald Trump has vowed to “drain the swamp” in Washington.  Now that sounds fine when we are talking about the lobbyists and the totally dysfunctional US Congress, but if this were to actually happen, that would mean that many of the good parts of the swamp could also be sent down the drain.

 

Two elderly former national security advisers that came from very different worlds and that had constructed today’s American foreign policy tradition, their names are now being brought up in hopes that the new president-elect will call on the knowledge of these two advisers.

 

These two men, Zbigniew Brzezinski, 88, and Brent Scowcroft, 91. were both honored recently by Defense Secretary Ashton Carter with the Distinguished Public Service Award.  That is the Pentagon’s highest award for civilians.

 

These two former national security advisers came from vastly different worlds to join in constructing the foreign policy tradition Trump seems ready to demolish.  Brzezinski, is a Polish refugee who served Democratic President Jimmy Carter.  Scowcroft, is a Mormon, ex-military officer from Utah who worked for Republican Presidents Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush.

 

Both men were classic Cold War hawks who shared what was a vision of the United States.  That vision led to a global network of security alliances and trading partnerships. This system, is anchored by the NATO organization and alliances with Japan and South Korea, of which “candidate Trump” had threatened to dismantle.

 

With the election of Donald Trump, many members of this global group are concerned that with someone so inexperienced as is Trump regarding foreign policy, would this alliance be in danger.  Could it become one of the good parts that could be headed for that “swamp drain”.

 

This alliance has the structure of our long-time American power. Yes, it was originally built on America’s military strength, but also on the generosity of the American system. Our so called “soft power” which is a term that Trump would probably never use, it was expressed in verses carved on the gates of the American University of Beirut, founded in 1866: “That they may have life and have it more abundantly.” Whatever mistakes the United States may have made in the world over the past 150 years, people still think that our country represents that aspiration.

 

Trump just doesn’t seem to understand that the “globalization” that those Trump supporters oppose is impossible to undo on an economic level.  Today’s corporations and financial markets are already connected and integrated to today’s globalization.

 

But it is correct that on a political level, the global system appears to be unraveling, and that issue should worry Trump, not cheer him up.

 

As the American-led system weakens, the beneficiaries will be China and a pugnacious Russia. Globalization may need a “course correction,” as President Obama has said, but that requires continued American leadership, not backing away from it.

 

Brzezinski and Scowcroft have already been approached on this subject as well as the traditional foreign policy consensus they represented. They were consulted recently about Donald Trump and his being the next commander-in-chief.

 

Scowcroft spoke at a luncheon in his honor hosted by the Aspen Strategy Group, a bipartisan foreign policy organization that is the perfect example of what Trump said he wants to overthrow. Scowcroft, struggled for the words to convey his lessons of a lifetime of public service.  He asked the group to cast aside their ngatives and put the country first. “If you’re asked to serve, please do,” said Scowcroft. “This man needs help badly.”  (Boy, was he correct on that!)

 

Brzezinski was honored only a week ago at the Pentagon.  Carter described him as “one of the finest strategic thinkers and policymakers of our time.” He said Brzezinski had understood that America must “live in an insecure world with ‘dignity, with idealism, with steadfastness.’ ”

 

When Brzezinski was asked what advice he would give Trump. “Mr. President,” he said, composing the memo in his head, “don’t assume that strong verbiage conveys strength. It has to be convincing. Be honest and frank, but don’t kiss ass. You could do the world a service if you said to President Putin: ‘Don’t be an adventurer, especially when you’re carrying a loaded weapon.’ ”  (But will Trump listen?)

 

In Trump’s eagerness to show he really means to bring massive change, he has been offering total disgust for all of America’s centers of power, from environmental scientists to economists, from diplomats and even to some US generals. Those Americans who resented these traditional sources of power would probably enjoy watching these organization disappear.

 

I believe that Trump does want to be a good president, but he has a long way to go in gaining presidential knowledge and he tends to be very careless in his dealing with these decisions.  “Shoot first, & ask questions later,” seems to be one of his approaches when he is pressured.

 

I sometimes think that Trump still doesn’t understand that he will inherited a nation that is still the world’s only superpower.

 

Trump has now named Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, a combative and very political retired Army officer to the national security adviser post previously held by both Scowcroft and Brzezinski. Is Flynn a person who can sustain the structure of alliances and power built over 70 years? Or is he someone who would undermine that structure? Flynn was basically fired from his position within the Pentagon and his retirement from that position was forced, that is not a good sign for someone in the most important National Security roll.

 

By all examples, just like Trump, General Flynn will have a ways to go to achieve the level of respect that are today given to Mr. Scowcroft and Mr. Brzezinski.  Let’s hope and pray that he can live up to that challenge.

 

Copyright G.Ater  2016