Kamala Harris for America's National Security - William Cohen op-ed WSJ

Foreign-policy issues rarely rank high with voters, but they have an enormous effect on domestic prosperity as well as on the global landscape. Vice President Kamala Harris is an internationalist who believes in the rule of law and in a rules-based system that strives for global order and stability.

She believes in securing alliances with nations that share America’s ideals and interests as we deal with competitors or adversaries. She is dedicated to preserving the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the most successful military-political alliance in history, which over the past quarter-century has added nations once forced to live under Soviet domination. She has expressed her commitment to help Ukraine defend its freedom and independence from Vladimir Putin’s criminal onslaught. Donald Trump’s approach is rooted in isolationism, xenophobia and white nationalism under the banner of “America first,” with fascist historical overtones.

As president, Mr. Trump demonstrated a reckless disregard for political norms. He made clear that he disdains formal alliances, as they require time-consuming agreements and at times a broad consensus before taking action. He prefers to take unilateral action, certain that our superior economic and military power can bend other nations to our will. Mr. Trump is unburdened by ethical dilemmas or moral ambiguities in dealing with others, be they friend or foe.

Mr. Trump has called into question the value of NATO, promising not to defend any NATO member that fails to pay its “dues” by spending 2% of gross domestic product on defense. He has hinted that he might pull the U.S. out of NATO and let European members fend for themselves. His isolationist sentiments aren’t confined to Europe. He has publicly questioned the need for U.S. military forces in South Korea and Japan. That could cause our Asian allies to consider developing nuclear weapons, which would lead to further global instability. It evokes Churchill’s warning that we could one day “return to the Stone Age on the gleaming wings of science.”

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If America abandons the Ukrainian people or dismisses the value of NATO, it will send a strong signal to Beijing that the U.S. may not send forces to help defend Taiwan from provocative actions by China. That lack of resolve would likely cause our Indo-Pacific allies to recalibrate their security relationships. China is their biggest trading partner, and they would be reluctant to risk antagonizing the most heavily armed power in their neighborhood. At the very least, China would expand its sphere of influence beyond the South and East China seas.

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A Harris administration would likely pursue multilateral measures designed to ameliorate nature’s fury. A Trump administration would continue to dismiss climate change as a hoax perpetuated by environmentalists to discourage the continuing extraction of fossil fuels, thereby threatening the oil and gas industries.

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https://www.wsj.com/opinion/kamala-harris-for-americas-national-defense-case-for-2024-election-as-president-ad57b967?st=fjUBtz&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink


Mr. Cohen served as a Republican representative (1973-79) and senator (1979-97) from Maine and as U.S. defense secretary (1997-2001).