The purpose of U.S. foreign policy is not to be the mightiest or the most feared or the most powerful nation in the world. It’s not to be the richest nation in the world. The purpose of U.S. foreign policy is to achieve national security in a manner that enables Americans to achieve happiness and to help the rest of the world do the same. As I have described, we are far off course. American exceptionalism has proved to be the trap that Ronald Niebuhr so presciently warned against three-quarters of a century ago. America is rich, but it is not safe. It boasts the most billionaires in the world, yet ranks only twenty-fifth among the OECD countries in life expectancy. It is among the most violent parts of the world, ranking 114th in the Global Peace Index, a measure of peaceful societies.
Not every ill can be placed squarely on the illusions of American exceptionalism, but we can say that the endless wars and high costs of military dominance are taking their toll on U.S. society, not to mention the many places caught up in U.S.-caused or U.S.-abetted violence. Corporate lobbying is also a culprit, elevating greed to the top of U.S. politics and leaving well-being far behind. The Sustainable Development Goals, adopted by all countries, including the United States in 2015, but largely ignored by the United States in the Trump era, could help to redirect U.S. domestic and foreign policies toward a more fruitful approach.
I do not expect the Trump administration to pursue the internationalist course that I have recommended. Rather, I believe that the folly of America First will expose itself and cause the nation to redirect its energies and policies. Trump will be gone soon enough. It’s our task to prepare a foreign policy for the post-Trump future and to prevent irreparable harms in the meantime.
To summarize the internationalist approach set out in these pages, I conclude with ten priorities for a New American Foreign Policy aimed at achieving true national security and well-being for the American people.
First, live by the UN Charter. The UN remains the world’s best hope for peaceful solutions to global problems. There is wisdom in numbers. When the United States faces opposition in the UN Security Council or the UN General Assembly, it should take careful note. More often than not, the opposition is good advice from America’s friends, not a plot to subvert U.S. sovereignty.
Second, recommit to the SDGs and the Paris Climate Agreement. The 192 other countries are not wrong. The SDGs and the Paris Climate Agreement are powerful pillars for global economic cooperation in the coming years. By pursuing the SDGs, the United States can start to reverse the plunge in social trust and public health. Together with the rest of the world, the United States can help to avoid devastating climate change, end extreme poverty, and set conditions for peace in today’s fragile states.
Third, raise the UN budget. The $600 million that the United States currently spends each year on the regular UN budget—for the UN General Assembly, UN Security Council, and UN agencies—is the best bargain on the planet. Not only does the United States multiply its own giving roughly five to one, as the other countries add their own assessments, but the UN is the most effective global institution for addressing children’s health (UNICEF), epidemic diseases (World Health Organization), famine (World Food Program), refugee movements (UN High Commissioner for Refugees), and much more.
Fourth, ratify the pending UN treaties. After being the original champion and creator of the United Nations, the United States is now the world’s loner country. The number of unratified treaties continues to mount, including treaties on women, the disabled, children, the law of the sea, biodiversity, the International Criminal Court, and others. The United States is alone among the 193 UN member states in declaring its intention to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement. America’s isolation damages America’s reputation, weakens global problem solving, and undermines the case for multilateralism.
Fifth, regain momentum on nuclear disarmament. The United States and all other nuclear powers are obligated by the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons to negotiate in good faith to seek nuclear disarmament. They are not doing so. The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, winner of the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize, and millions of people around the world are pressing for a Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. These efforts have won the endorsement of 129 countries, including fifty-six signatory states to date. The United States would rekindle global confidence and bolster its own security by championing this new approach rather than spending a trillion dollars to upgrade its nuclear arsenal, as both Obama and Trump have supported.
Sixth, cooperate on new technologies. One key to achieving the SDGs is to advance and implement new technologies in low-carbon energy and transport, smart grids, artificial intelligence, nanotechnologies, genomics, and other sciences. Global cooperation across governments, universities, and business could speed these advances and hasten progress. Transnational technology ventures would build trust and facilitate diffusion of the new technologies around the world.
Seventh, find regional solutions to Middle East violence. The Middle East has suffered a century of violence following the end of World War I because of the chronic meddling of great powers, including Britain, France, Russia, and the United States. The regional powers, notably Iran, Israel, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia, play the big powers against each other. It’s time for the UN Security Council to freeze the inflow of armaments and press the regional powers to find a satisfactory framework for mutual security.
Eighth, end the CIA’s covert military operations. No institution has done more to undermine America’s democracy and to discredit its foreign policy than the CIA when acting in its capacity as the private army of the U.S. president. The CIA routinely violates international law, destabilizes foreign governments, and turns manageable crises into unmanageable disasters, all without public accountability or even awareness. The CIA is necessary and valuable as an intelligence agency; it is a threat to world peace and U.S. security as a secret army.
Ninth, overhaul the U.S. budget. America has starved the portions of federal government that can raise well-being—higher education, job training, family support, environmental conservation, civilian R&D, and sustainable infrastructure—while spending almost a trillion dollars per year on the U.S. military, including hundreds of overseas bases, nonstop overseas conflicts, and hugely expensive weapons systems. With a cooperative foreign policy, the United States could save at least $500 billion per year, which could support vital civilian programs at home while doing far more to help the world’s poorest countries end extreme poverty.
Tenth, celebrate America’s true exceptionalism. America’s exceptionalism does not lie in its military strength, CIA operations, or rejection of UN treaties. America’s exceptionalism lies in its cultural and ethnic diversity. New York City, my own home, includes more than 200 nationalities. America’s openness to immigrants has brought new energy, ideas, cultural wisdom, and optimism every generation. America’s success will depend in no small measure on a foreign policy that champions America as the welcoming home to the world’s nations.
Let us therefore enter the Age of Sustainable Development with hope, energy, and determination. This is a time for all countries, especially the major powers, to work cooperatively to raise well-being, protect the environment, end the remnants of extreme poverty, and guard against hatred, fear, and a senseless descent into violence.