Round
The World
New Delhi, 27 August 2021
US’ Foreign Policy
INDIA MUST RETHINK
By Dr D.K. Giri
(Prof. International
Politics, JIMMC)
The American debacle in Afghanistan has made
countries reassess its foreign policy in terms of their commitment to the
values they seem to advocate, and their reliability as an ally. It is
critically imperative for South Block in New Delhi to rethink its America
policy in order to reinforce its perspectives and recalibrate its strategy. In
the context of China, to explain New Delhi’s lack of correct assessment, I used
to quote the 20th century muckraking journalist Upton Sinclair who once opined
that “It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary
depends on not understanding it”. This could apply to any country’s foreign
policy if the outcome of any partnership with that country does not yield
favourable results.
The US President Joe Biden has blundered in
Afghanistan. There is no gainsaying this perception. He has not followed up any
consistent approach to the withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan. The
shambolic exit that leaves a trail of blood and barbarism casts a long shadow
on America’s intelligence, calculations, strategic planning and so forth. The
question now debated is, whether the aftermath of American withdrawal was
inevitable. Or was it not foreseen? The Americans had to quit ‘the forever-war
in the Central Asian country’.
Biden is desperately trying to justify his
action that support such a strategy.
The other question raised is, “Do the
Americans care”? This needs to be probed, if countries like India pin their
hopes on America defending their security, should an occasion arise as an
autocratic, belligerent country like China, India’s immediate neighbour,
threatens global security including of course that of India’s.
My take
in assessing America’s foreign policy, we will find that Washington has
displayed a dichotomy between what it professes and what it practices on the
ground. The second variable is American leadership, the Presidents it has had.
Biden has clearly shown that he is a weak and inconsistent leader; unlike his
predecessor Donald Trump, who, despite many of his drawbacks, was consistent in
his approach. In fact, he said the same things as he did years before he became
the president, although we may not agree to these.
The first question to ask is, in its foreign
policy and justification of military interventions, does America really address
the issues that are quoted for the bases of those actions in the first place.
Take for example, the 1991 Gulf war, perpetrated by George W. Bush’s
administration on Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. The rationale was that Iraq invaded
Kuwait. But US has supported before and after Iraq war, far more destructive
aggressions than Iraq’s into Kuwait. US supported the 1975 Indonesian invasion
of East Timor, and the same year, South Africa’s attack on Angola. In 1990, US
backed Uganda’s proxy invasion of Rwanda.
The second question to pose is, does the US
seek peace in place of conflicts and wars? It is presumed that the US does
support peace to prevail. If that was indeed a priority in foreign policy, then
America would have used all possible opportunities to avoid war. But American
military history strongly refutes this notion. The United States has been, in
its 245-year existence, at war in all but 11 years. The evaluation of Iraq war
and even the intervention in Afghanistan, it has been revealed that both Saddam
Hussein and Taliban had offered no-war deals.
The Third question to ask is, does America
worry and careabout defending democracy. It is true that defence of democracy
is the concept often brandished by Americans to pursue military action in
another country. In quite a few South American countries including Venezuela,
Panama, Grenada and Haiti, interventions have been justified in the name of
democracy. Look at the facts, the United States provides arms to 73% of the
World’s dictatorships. The supply of arms is often accompanied with training of
the military and security forces of those undemocratic regimes. From 1970 to
2009, around 275 military-backed coups took place globally, of which 165 of
them were carried out by US trained forces.
A close scan of US allies in the Middle East
and North Africa should demonstrate America’s sham commitment to democracy
abroad. In Egypt, the US has been an ally to many undemocratic governments including
that of Hussein Mubarak until it was overthrown by a popular uprising in 2013.
The royal families of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the UAE have enjoyed
immense patronage from the United States. Furthermore, the people of Guatemala,
Brazil, Chile and Honduras and a host of other countries willtestify to the
mismatch between America’s professed commitment to democracy and its practice
in foreign policy.
That said, I have been arguing for a closer partnership
between Washington and News Delhi. We must realise that international politics
is based on pragmatism, the so-called realpolitik. And there are many instances
to show that America has intervened and stood for peace, order, and democracy,
certainly more the communist dictatorships like Russia and China. More
important, America has not sought to grab other peoples’ lands.
It is the leadership of Joe Biden that is in
question, mainly his inconsistency. In a speech in February 2002, he had said,
“History is going to judge us very harshly we believe, if we allow the hope of
a liberated Afghanistan to evaporate because we are fearful of the phrase, nation-building”.
Now he says, “Our mission in Afghanistan was never supposed to have been
nation-building. It was never supposed to be creating a unified centralised
democracy.” Also, he forgot the diplomatic principle that negotiations are
euphemisms for capitulation, if the shadow of power is not cast across the
bargaining table.
The mess Biden leaves in Afghanistan puts him
in a poor light as the leader of the super power. If he made a deal with
Taliban and left Afghanistan and the arsenal to them, history will judge him
harshly. At any rate, New Delhi should keep the realpolitik in mind in its foreign
policy and get the US to do the course correction in Kabul as there is no turning
back from Quad and India-America security partnership.---INFA
(Copyright, India
News & Feature Alliance)
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