The Washington Outsider

Under Trump, Foreign Policy, Scientific Funding, And Other Aspirational Policies Are Threatened: What Can Be Done?

12/28/2018

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​The Trump Administration has proven to be a threat to public policy initiatives rooted in aspirational goals.  President Donald Trump’s decision to immediately withdraw from Syria serves as a prime example of how the failure of foreign policy experts to thoroughly justify US engagement in a foreign land can result in an unexpected foreign policy pivot by a President indifferent to the broader consequences of his decisions.  Tertiary threats to the United States like that posed by the Islamic State may help support US engagement in places like Syria, but the basis for US engagement in the region, ultimately, centers on ill-defined “vital national interests.”  For those who see the world in terms of an international community fueled by global commerce, the need to maintain security and stability around the globe is enough of a vital national interest for all world powers to intervene in foreign conflicts.  For those who believe in world peace, human rights, and human progress, the humanitarian cost of war is enough to justify international intervention.  For more traditional, more nationalistic thinkers, however, there is rarely justification for the US to go to war outside of self-preservation.  The failure of the President’s foreign policy advisers to convince him of the aspirational objectives behind US foreign policy is what ended US intervention in Syria.
​With that in mind, President Trump is a business-minded person who makes his decisions based on a minimal amount of information and understanding in a short time-frame.  The consequence of that is a tendency for leaders like Trump to focus on the short-term, most apparent costs and benefits of decisions.  US foreign policy cannot, however, be understood in terms of individual policies.  Every policy decision must be viewed as an attempt to secure US influence and, ultimately, US interests.  By cultivating strong US relations with other governments and Peoples of nations, the US is able to forge the allies it needs to ensure its security and dissuade any adversaries from engaging in aggressions.  The objective is to create an unrivaled alliance.  To make the world safe for Americans, the globe needs to be relatively stable in terms of security and economics, would-be adversaries, including allies, need to have their military might suppressed, and democratic governance is needed to limit the power of world leaders.  This requires the existence of an international community maintained and somewhat regulated by international governance.  Although the governments of the world set global policies via international institutions and their own foreign policies, those policies mean nothing without an enforcement/ “policing” mechanism, which is something only the US military is capable of facilitating.
 
America was involved in Syria for a variety of aspirational reasons that go beyond the alleged vital national interests used to justify US engagement, i.e. pacifying the threat the Islamic State posed to the United States.  The primary reasons were the systemic threats a fully destabilized Syria posed to Middle Eastern security and the loss of US influence in the oil-rich region due to an emerging power vacuum being filled by powers unfriendly to the United States and its allies.  For some, including this writer, limited US engagement, such as the targeted-bombing of regime forces and support for rebel groups, was necessary due to the humanitarian crisis created by the Bashar al-Assad regime murdering its own people for protesting.  The latter is certainly the most aspirational, but the simple fact is that public policies, including foreign policies, do not have to be fully justified or actually serve vital national interests, though supporting humanitarian causes helps the US garner support from the Peoples of the world.  Public policies, especially for democratic countries like the United States, depend more on who supports them than what arguments support them.  Ultimately, either influential members of a society or a critical mass of people must support a policy.  If the majority of the American People want to safeguard the Syrian People from their own government, because the US has the military might to do so, the US will do that.  If they do not and government leaders do not override public opinion, no matter how strong the strategic argument is, the US will not.
 
Furthermore, the same is true of all public policies.  The justifications and rationales for a public policy can be used to drum up support, but it is the support of a policy that determines its fate.  In the case of public policies based more aspirations than strategic and easily-established objectives, it is a lot harder to garner the support among the populous and public officials needed to implement such policies.  Under the Trump Administration, a number of traditionally-embraced aspirational policies appear to be under threat by a President whose worldview does not resonate with those supporting such policies.  Beyond foreign policy, the government shutdown over border wall funding has impacted a number of areas.  For his part, Mr. Trump appears indifferent to the troubles the shutdown is causing.  One of those areas happens to be the funding of scientific research.  Although the connection between public funding of past scientific research to modern technology, economic gain, and military might is, at least, intuitively understood by the scientific community and the general public, while it can be factually linked, the justification for current and future funding relies largely on aspirational rationales.  The reason is that the most important benefits of scientific research are rarely direct or intentional benefits.  Because research was being funded in the past based on often dubious justifications, it happened to yield numerous benefits that impact modern life in big ways.  Unfortunately, society has grown far more intolerant to aspirational justifications, even as the fruits of publicly funded scientific research have had a unprecedented impact on the world.
 
Under the leadership and mindset of men like Donald Trump, it is increasingly difficult to institute policies with indirect, long-term, and unclear benefits.  It is, therefore, necessary for public policy advocates and advisers to strengthen their arguments for such public policies.  They must also create the justifications to support policies that cannot be fully justified or understood in terms of their immediate, direct benefits and costs.  Just because the implications of a policy are not fully understood or predictable does not mean the consequences of abandoning that policy will go unrealized.  Aspirational policies are just as necessary as well-justified, strategic policies with clear outcomes.  It is, however, very difficult to garner the support of people who do not see and support the benefits, or at least the potential benefits, of a public policy.  In the past, foreign policy initiatives and funding for scientific research were often embraced on highly questionable justifications.  Today, there is a great deal more scrutiny, yet the need to offer some direct and certain benefit still remains.  Stronger arguments do not, however, necessarily require more obvious objectives.  Stronger arguments can also rely on greater honesty.  This means the aspirational goals must be directly argued instead of the largely superficial rationales used in the past to justify aspirational public policies. 
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        • Should the Government Control Talk Radio to Make it More "balanced"?
      • How the People Are Lost in the Extremes of 'Right' and 'Left' in Politics
      • Should One's Faith Influence a Citizen's Vote?
      • Should the U.S. Government Help Fund Election Campaigns?
      • On Defunding Political Science Research
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      • Justice for All: The Case for Legal, Social, Economic, and Personal Justice
      • Why Hardliner Thinking in the NSA and CIA is Doing Damage
      • On the Baby Boomer’s Self-Centeredness
      • The Case for Personal Responsibility
      • What Modern Day Revolutionaries Need to Learn from Leader's like Mandela
      • Rising Western Acceptance of LGBT Primes Culture Clash
      • The Need for Wisdom Beyond the Numbers
      • Perceptions of the United States
      • How Honesty Relates to the Great Recession
      • Why the Middle Class and Rich Need to Support Their Long-term Interests
      • The Aristocratic Republic of the United States of America
      • Discussing the Need for Community Support
      • Why New Forms of Capitalism and Socialism Will Compliment Each Other
      • The Reason We Need to Understand What it is to Be Poor in America
      • Why the World Needs to Reinvest in America
      • Why Are We Against Terrorism?
      • Why Does Terrorism Exist?
      • US Influence: The Value of American Citizenship Around the World
      • Responding to "the Soldier as Sacrficial Victim"
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      • How comfort defines us as people >
        • Is Suicide a Cowardly Way Out?
      • Defense Against the Dark Arts of Manipulators
      • Defining Abuse >
        • On the Willing Victim of Abuse
        • How to Understand Abuse Victims
        • Recognizing Abuse
      • The Role of Substitution in Decision Making
      • Trying to Understand PTSD and Other Trauma-induced Mental Health Issues
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        • Mental Illness is Not the Cause of Anger and Violence >
          • Trying to Understand the Boston Marathon Bombing and Other Violent Crimes
          • Getting into the Twisted Mind of the Tucson Murder
      • Describing the Mind as Modes of Thought >
        • It’s Just Sex?
      • Relationships, or Arrangement
      • Understanding the Effects of Groupthink in the Workplace
      • Relating Circular, Inductive, and Deductive Reasoning to the Scientific Method and Religion
      • What is a Redneck? Understanding Different Cultures and Thinking
    • Economics >
      • The Need for Greater Economic Leverage >
        • Evaluating NAFTA and TPP
        • Undercutting Logistics with the Underpaid Independent Contractor
        • Unions: Hindrance or Essential to Free Markets
        • Eminent Domain Used Against Banks
        • Haitians Sue the UN for Failure to Help With Cholera
        • Looking at How Corn-based Ethanol and Other Alternative Energy Subsidies Stack Up
      • Empowering the Sovereign Nation-State by Rethinking Trade Policy >
        • Irish Sovereignty Lost Before Bailout
        • Why Sudan's Greatest Long-Term Hurdle is Our Lowest-bidder Economy
        • Reduce US Imports by Buying American Made Products
      • Ending the need for government support and tackling poverty
      • Income inequality: understanding the limitations and psychology of disadvantage
      • Looking at the Future of American Jobs >
        • On Questioning the Need to Address Economic Disparity
        • Minimum Wage is Not the Problem
        • Responding to the "Blip"
        • Why Education Is Not The Civil Rights Issue Of The Twenty-First Century
      • Considering the Impact of the Capital Gains Tax Deduction
      • Embracing a Capitalist Mindset >
        • Capitalism Versus Socialism
        • The Negatives of Socialism
      • Stealing Intellectual Property
      • Changing Business Models: From Enduring Entities to Cash Cows
      • Consumer and Investor Evolution in the Great Recession of 2008-09
      • Dealing with the Issues Surrounding the Patenting of Self-replicating Technologies
      • Is Technology Threatening Jobs?
    • Education >
      • The Role of Education in Creating a More Dynamic Workforce
      • Primary Education in America and the Changing Needs of Society
      • The Greatness of the American Education System
      • Ideas for Improving the United States Education System
      • Are Teachers Treated as Professionals?
      • Is Engaging Parents in Their Children's Education a Major Factor in Turning Around Low-performing Schools?
      • Should Grants Be Awarded to School Districts that Try Innovative Methods to Improve Student Achievement?
    • US Constitution >
      • On Reading the US Constitution
      • The Senate should not do more to limit the powers of the Judicial Branch
      • On the DOJ Justifying the “targeted Killings” of US Citizens
      • Corporations Do Not Have the Same Rights as US Citizens >
        • Corporate America Pleads the First
      • Discussing the Constitutionality of Per Capita Taxes
      • Was the California Supreme Court Right in Legalizing Gay Marriage?
      • Should the Bible Continue to Be Used for Swearing-in Ceremonies and in Courtrooms?
      • Should Religious Student Clubs Be Allowed in Public Schools?
      • Should the Government Control Talk Radio to Make it More "balanced"?
      • The Second Amendment: Not Outdated >
        • Are We Losing Our Second Amendment Rights
      • Eminent Domain Used Against Banks
      • Should a Woman Have the Right to Choose Abortion? >
        • Should Fathers Be Able to Opt Out of Parenthood?
      • Should Smoking Be Allowed in Public Places?
      • Is Teen Driving a Right or a Privilege?
      • Should US Companies Be Required to Provide Equal Pay to Women and Men?
      • Is eighteen too young to vote?
      • First Amendment Rights: The Priviledge of The Press
      • Do Mandatory Seat Belt Laws Violate Individual Rights?
      • Should cell phone use be banned while driving?
      • Dealing with the link between video game violence and children's behavior
      • Should police have to submit to routine drug and alcohol testing?
      • Public schools should not impose mandatory drug testing on students
      • Are High Taxes on Cigarettes Proper?
      • Should pharmacists be required to violate their religious beliefs and dispense the "Morning After Pill?"
      • Should school counselors uphold patient privacy or report students who become unstable?
  • For the record
    • Ongoing Issues >
      • Red Dawn in Ukraine: Understanding the Actions of Russia >
        • On Russia’s Coercion of Ukraine
        • The Russian Annexation of Crimea in the Eyes of the World
        • Putin Has Overplayed His Hand With Crimea
        • Ukraine in Terms of Resovereignization
        • Avoiding a Conflict Between America and Russia Over Ukraine
        • What Drives the World’s Interest in Russia’s Actions in Ukraine
      • China’s Aggressive Pursuit of Interests Demands a Global Response
      • Iran Makes a Deal: A Start to a Long-term Diplomatic Effort to Denuclearize Iran >
        • On the Future of a Nuclear Negotiations with Iran
      • America's Sphere of Influence: Retaking South-East Asia >
        • Power in Asia: Looking at the Power Shift in Japan
        • The China Paradox: Why America is Worried About China
      • Assessing US Support of Israel >
        • Tread Softly Israel for a Heavy Step May Be Your Undoing
      • Understanding the Dysfunctional Nature of the US-Pakistani Relationship
      • Recognizing the True Threat Behind the Current Unrest in the Middle East >
        • Reacting to the Escalating Crackdown in Syria
      • Assessing the Threat of North Korea >
        • Answering North Korea's Call for Food Aid: Breaking the Vicious Cycle Forced Upon Us by a Warring Nation
        • Dealing with the Restarting of the Korean War
        • North Korea Attacks South Korea
      • Dealing with the Ill-effects of Climate Change
      • Racial Inequality and Oppression Do Truly Exist in Today's Society
      • Should energy independence be a high priority in the US?
      • An overview of world wide Human Rights violations
      • Nuclear Threat from Pakistan
      • Return of The Cold War?
    • World >
      • Coverage of FIFA World Cup is a Chance to Focus on Poverty >
        • The FIFA World Cup Offers Benefits for More Than Brazilian Soccer Fans
        • FIFA Can Bring Brazilians Together as a Nation
      • Being Prepared for Any Potential Dangers at the FIFA World Cup Games
      • Treading Softly on the Politicizing of the 2014 Sochi Olympics Over Gay Rights
      • Why NATO Operations in Libya Lack a Well-defined Mission
      • China Hijacks the Web
      • Lessons from the Great Japanese Earthquake of 2011
      • A Modernizing Cuba Offers an Opportunity for Capitalists
      • The Seeds of Democracy Take Root in the Middle East
      • The Rebirth of Democracy in Tunisia
      • What May Come from the Hurt Revolution in Libya
      • Responding to the Violence of Qaddafi and Other Besieged Leaders
      • Embracing the Rise of a Democratic Egypt
      • Protests in Afghanistan Turn Deadly for Coalition Forces and UN Personnel
      • Haiti: Another Failing Humanitarian Investment
      • What Karzai Can Learn from Calderon
      • START II: A Necessary, Easy Success that Nearly Failed
      • Why Does the U.S. Government Support Independence for the Breakaway Serb Territory of Kosovo but Oppose Independence for the Breakaway Georgian Territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia?
      • Iraq's Electric Issues: When Human Wants Trump Economic Sense
      • The International Community Reacts to Wikileaks: We May Be Moving Toward a Third World War in Cyberspace
      • On Climate Gate
      • Assessing Obama's Afghanistan War strategy
      • 2009 Iranian Presidential Election: The Fallout
      • Resolving Sri Lankan Conflict through Free Media
      • What are the Global Consequences of Russia's Invasion of Georgia
      • The War in Iraq: an assessment of President Bush's surge strategy
      • Drug War: Actions of Venezuela, Columbia, Ecuador in terms of Resovereignization
      • Is the Iraq Refugee Crisis America's Responsibility?
      • US support for a united Kosovo, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia: why?
      • Should the US withdraw from Iraq?
      • Setting a Timetable for Troop Withdrawal from Iraq is a Terrible Mistake
      • War on Terrorism is needed
    • Law and Order >
      • Rape in the US Military
      • Ethics of Force-feeding Guantanamo Bay Detainees
      • Reacting to the Aftermath of the Tucson Massacre
    • Economy >
      • Affordability Drives Fear of Obamacare and the Individual Mandate
      • Is the Economy Built for a Job's Recovery?
      • Gutting Healthcare Reform of the Individual Mandate
      • Arizona Budget Cuts Lead to Lethal Healthcare Rationing:
      • Shameful Collection Practices of American Banks
      • The Fed Reveals it Actually Undertook an International Bailout
      • Thoughts on French Budgetary Reforms
      • Seniors Start Businesses
      • The Case for Slimming Down the US Military to Make it Better
      • Looking at the Obama Administration's New Approach to Economic Policy
      • Should the Government Regulate the Credit Card Industry?
      • The Big Three's Big Chance
      • The Unhealthy Tone of the Healthcare Reform Debate
      • Should the federal government offer a bailout for home owners?
      • Environmentalists: Do They Do More Good Than More Harm?
      • Responding to Scott Walker's Contribution to the War on Unions
    • US Government >
      • America Needs to Focus on the Impending Fiscal Crisis
      • Reacting to the Bush Era-tax Cut Extension Deal
      • Quitting the Obama Revolution: The Fickle Nature of American Politics
      • John Boehner's Circus
      • Is the Fed Putting Itself in Jeopardy?
      • Wikileaks Goes After the US State Department
      • Discussing the Political Environment Surrounding the 2011 Budget Debate
      • What the Democrats Can Do to Ensure a GOP Year in 2012
      • What the 2010 Midterm Actually Said
      • Congresswoman Kathy Dahlkemper
      • Democrats Minus Nancy Pelosi Equals Opportunity
      • Terrorists Go Postal: The Terrorism Threat Reexamined
      • Victory in the 2008 Election: Reaction to Barack Obama'a Win >
        • Expectations for Barack Obama
      • President Obama's first one hundred days
      • John McCain's Negative Campaign
      • Reasons People did not Elect John Mccain
      • History judges the George W. Bush Administration
      • Should the next US President focus on domestic issues?
      • President Bush, should he resign or be impeached
      • Should the Ban on Government Sponsored Assassinations be Repealed
    • Off Topic >
      • A Face of America’s Greatest Generation
      • A Story About a Man Who Made the World a Better Place
      • Making the World a Better Place
      • The Bipolar Ethical Nature of Google
      • Learning Computer Plays Jeopardy
      • Verifying Medicine is the Real Thing
      • Taking a Practical Step Forward in Optical Computing Using Slow Light
      • Scientists Take a Closer Look at How Lithium Batteries Work
      • Remarking on the First Blizzard of the 2010-2011 Winter Season
      • Driving in the Snow: Acceleration is the Key
      • How People in Northwest PA Are Coping with the Increasing Cost of Oil
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