Presidential Briefing

Foreign, Economic, and Defense Policy Standing and Policy Recommendations

Jarrett Anderson

POLS 2100 International Politics

Shari Sowards
Mr. President,

Welcome aboard as our new Commander in Chief. The following is a brief outline

of many of the challenges facing our country on the international level. The current

landscape and main challenges are presented, and policy suggestions will follow

intermittently. We look forward to working with you and implementing new policy that will

help protect and defend our great nation.

As we begin the implementation of the administrations foreign, economic, and

defense policy, the purpose of foreign policy of the United States must be clear. Our

purpose must primordially be to defend the liberty and independence of the United States.

All policy must work to sustain that end.

Foreign Policy

We have good relations with many countries around the world. One of our most

important alliances is our membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

NATO is a partnership of 28 member states including North American and European

Countries.1 Originally, NATO was a partnership formed in response to possible Soviet

Union aggressions, promising collective defense, crisis management, and cooperative

security (The White House). Today, as we see the rising aggression and potential threats of

the Russian Federation towards NATO and its allies under Vladimir Putin, our membership

in NATO is vital. The United States currently provides roughly 22% of NATOs funding

$685 million of its entire $2.8 billion yearly budget (The White House). We must continue

to support and fund NATO in order to defend against increasing Russian aggression.

1 Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary,
Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia. Slovenia.
Spain. Turkey, United Kingdom, and the United States of America.
Regarding other parts of the world, former President Barack Obama has begun an attempt

to normalize relations with Cuba once again, but in order to truly liberate the people of

Cuba from the yoke of communism we must pull out of these normalizations, and work to

oust the Communist Dictator. This can be done through renewal of the full economic

embargo placed on Cuba in 1962 (Cuba Sanctions). As well, we have seen potential

nuclear threats throughout the world rising from countries such as North Korea, China,

Pakistan, Iran, and Russia. We must work to update our nuclear arsenal, and strengthen the

triad. We do this, not to participate in an arms race, but in order to counter the potential

threats that face us and prepare us in the event that the use of such weapons be necessary. It

is in our best national security interests. We, as a NATO alliance, are also dealing with

potential threats from Russia generally, and not simply regarding nuclear threats. Mr. Putin

is seeking relentlessly to weaken NATO, and sow the seeds of Eurasianist Ideology

throughout eastern Europe. For this purpose, we must continue to fund and strengthen

NATO.

Recently implemented was the Iran Nuclear deal which lifts sanctions and has

provisions cutting back on their current nuclear program and attempting to prevent Iran

from further developing nuclear weapons (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action). We

must reverse this deal and renew the sanctions that will, as before, cripple the Iranian

Economy and at the same time we must actively seek solutions so as to put an end to their

development of nuclear weapons. From the same region, Israel and Palestinian peace

efforts and solutions are still in the works. A recent resolution passed by the U.N. was

directed at condemning the Israeli settlements being built in what the U.N. considers

Palestinian land and in East Jerusalem (United Nations Resolution 2334 (2016)). We

abstained from the vote, breaking with a long tradition of Vetoing any anti-Israeli
resolutions. We must return to our resolute defense of Israel. As the Safeguard Israel Act

of 2017 is put forth by Senators Cruz (TX) and Graham (SC), and if passed by congress

we must seek to support it, until the anti-Israeli resolution has been reversed. We must

renew Israeli confidence in our relationship and firmly oppose any attempts to undermine

its legitimacy. Finally, as you have stated in your campaign, there is need to review and

potentially revise our immigration policies and allowance of refugees.

Economic Policy

We have entered into 14 free trade agreements (FTAs) with a total of 20 countries2

(Free Trade Agreements). We have many Trade and Investment Framework Agreements

(TIFAs) (Trade & Investment Framework Agreements). As well, we have negotiated

many Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) (Bilateral Investment Treaties). We must work

to open up full and free trade with the nations with whom we do not have full free trade

agreements and treaties. As you know, and have signed an executive order to pull out of, we

have recently been negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a free-trade agreement

in Southern Asia. Free trade is an important factor in ensuring the economic freedom and

prosperity to the people of not only America, but other countries involved in the

negotiations. It will be difficult to bilaterally negotiate a deal with only one country at a

time, only giving them access to one market. The ability for them to have access to multiple

markets will increase the ability of guaranteeing free trade between nations. By pulling out,

China will now have the ability to set the parameters of trade in Southeast Asia. We implore

you to reconsider in order to improve free American access to markets. Allow congress to

review and pass the TPP trade agreement omitting any portions that would be harmful to

2 Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) includes: Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador,
Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) which includes: Canada and
Mexico. And bilateral free trade agreements with the following countries: Australia, Bahrain, Chile, Colombia, Israel,
Jordan, Morocco, Oman, Panama, Peru, Singapore, and South Korea (Outcomes of Current U.S. Trade Agreements).
American sovereignty. Regarding foreign aid, the budget for 2017 provides for $34 billion

to be allocated to foreign countries (Foreign Assistance) this number includes military

spending (U.S. Department of Defense).

Defense Policy

We have the strongest military force in the world and we are seeking to maintain our

prevalence as the strongest military. In 2015 almost 54% of our discretionary budget was

allocated to defense (U.S. Department of Defense). Although we are not involved directly

in many major state wars, there is the ongoing conflict in Syria that at one point became a

resemblance proxy war between us and Russia, with Russia (and Turkey) both supporting

dictator Bashar Al-Assad, and our CIA operatives training the Rebels, the Free Syrian Army

(FSA). At the moment there are ceasefire and peace accords being discussed that could

potentially put an end to this civil war, we are seeking to ensure that peace is established,

but our original goal of ousting the dictator Bashar Al-Assad was not realized. Because of

this conflict there has been a large displacement of Syrian Citizens who are now seeking

refuge among other nations, we accepted a total of 12,486 refugees from Syria, and a total

of 84,995 refugees in 2016 (Phillip, 1).

Humanitarian Crises

We may also define the refugee issue as a humanitarian issue. In 2016 the main countries

contributing to the flow of Refugees were: Burma (Myanmar), Democratic Republic of the

Congo, Somalia, Iraq, Bhutan, Syria, and Iran (Igielnik,1). These refugees are displaced

due to various regional conflicts, civil unrest, and political instability in their respective

countries, and we have chosen to accept them.

Finally, an issue that is somewhat controversial is the need for government reaction

to the changing climate. The recent Paris Agreement was enacted and based on the National
Climate Action Plans (Otherwise known as Intended Nationally Determined Contributions

or INDCs) submitted by each nation regulation will be pursued domestically to regulate

each economic industry to cut back on carbon emissions. (United Nations Framework

Convention on Climate Change). In reviewing our INDC (United States INDC) and in

implementing any regulation, we must seek to ensure that any legislation that is enacted

will not unduly harm any industries. The economic prosperity of the people and ability for

small businesses to function without the burden of undue regulation is important, and if the

details of our INDC (our portion of the Paris Agreement) do not outweigh the cost of the

burden it will place on the American people, or make any notable impact on an already

naturally changing climate, the deal must be reconsidered.

Conclusion

As we seek to defend the freedom and independence of the American people, it is

imperative that we understand our threats and promptly, but rationally reply. By so doing

we will not only safeguard the freedom of the American people, but we can impact freedom

and prosperity on a global scale.

References

Bilateral Investment Treaties | United States Trade Representative. Bilateral Investment

Treaties | United States Trade Representative, United States Trade Representative,
2016, ustr.gov/trade-agreements/bilateral-investment-treaties.

Connor, Phillip. U.S. admits record number of Muslim refugees in 2016. Pew Research
Center, Pew Research Center, 5 Oct. 2016, www.pewresearch.org/fact-
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Cuba Sanctions. U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of State, 2016,

www.state.gov/e/eb/tfs/spi/cuba/.

Foreign Assistance. Explore | ForeignAssistance.Gov, 2016,

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Igielnik, Ruth. Where refugees to the U.S. come from. Pew Research Center, Pew
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