During Trump’s Presidency the US abdicated its world leadership role. America First was nothing more than a tag line for the international version of MAGA’s ugly grievance and resentment. US national interest was subordinated to what Trump could whine about, which with traditional allies like NATO’s membership translated to protecting America from ingrates who have spent decades benefitting from our military protection while scamming us blind as trading partners.
There were of course countless examples of disgraceful conduct by our grievance empath on the world stage. Picking just one or even a top five is no easy task. Yet and still, who can forget the 2018 Brussels disgrace when, surrounded by his stoically horrified babysitters – stricken chief of staff John Kelly, feckless NATO Ambassador Kay Bailey Hutchinson and the Von Ribbentropesque Mike Pompeo – Trump refused to accept NATO General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg’s breathless assurances that members were now, thanks only to the Donald’s righteous demands, paying their fair share for US protection. Instead, Trump launched into a mostly fact-free rant accusing Germany of “being controlled by Russia” and still lagging behind with its defense budget compared to the US. “You tell me how that’s fair,” the terrible infant demanded of the ashen Secretary General.
Stoltenberg learned a harsh fact of life that day: Trump never takes yes for an answer when cameras are rolling and more self-aggrandizement time is available.
More than just an international incident, it was such a petty yet momentous outrage one could feel 70 years of good faith being sucked out of the room. The alliance’s annual defense ministers meeting this week begins the hard work of diminishing the last four years to a mulligan, merely a populist aberration even the most stable democracy can inflict on itself… and others. One redeemable quality of Fox/AM’s nihilist foreign policy is, theoretically at least, since it was only about breaking things – like treaties, agreements, precedent and tradition, our good word, etc. – restoration becomes a function of the restorers drive and determination. Resolute policy, punctuated by decisive action, can result in reasonably rapid timetables to renew constructive relationships and the initiatives they create.
It is pleasantly counterintuitive that US military leaders are often accomplished writers, capable of crafting oratory that provides vivid description of their strategic and operational ambitions. After all, General US Grant restored his family fortune with a memoir he feverishly scribed within the throes of terminal throat cancer, his death quite literally following its final paragraph. It was General George Marshall, who authored the guidance of Europe’s post-war economic restoration, not to mention the preface of Western collective security. Eisenhower was no slouch when it came to describing the contours of his concerns about the limits of US power and the inherent dangers that accompany blank-check military development.
Even Trump’s first Defense Secretary, General James Mattis, a formidable intellect, provided thoughtful written statements underpinning his testimony before Congress. Such verbiage was in stark contrast to the always uninformed utterances of his White House patron. Trump eventually lost patience with answers more substantial than “yes sir” and forced the general’s resignation with his breathtaking betrayal of Kurdish allies responsible for most of the dirtiest work against ISIS in Iraq. With Mattis departed, the steady erosion of the military’s autonomy vis-a-vis civilian political intrigue shifted into high gear, culminating in the chain-of-command chaos that delayed efforts to adequately confront Trump’s insurrectionists on 1/6.
Add to this group, President Biden’s Secretary of Defense, General Lloyd Austin, whose confirmation hearing testimony was impressive in lucidly outlining the scope of best practices he plans to bring back to the Pentagon. Austin has made clear his intention to move quickly and reassert America’s leadership role abroad, fully cognizant time is of the essence. Nowhere is that sensibility more applicable than restoring NATO’s confidence in the US as a leader rather than haranguer. Even so, bringing allied faith in US leadership back to pre-MAGA levels is a very tough ask, likely not even possible.
Austin is starting at the beginning, assuring alliance members it’s all about working “to secure our common interests and promote our shared values abroad.” If that seems inanely obvious right now, consider that just several months ago there was no Defense Department official who could speak credibly about US security policy, and our President was celebrating spikes in European Covid rates to vindicate his own pandemic malpractice. With friends like that, who needs enemies.
In fact, from start to finish during Trump’s term it was like pulling teeth to simply get him to reaffirm Article 5, NATO’s foundational member pledge that an attack on one is an attack on all. Austin’s remedial approach can be seen as the Biden team’s acknowledgement of how ruinous Trump’s transactional sensibilities were, and the importance of making sure nothing during this rapprochement is taken for granted. The primary lesson Trump’s shocking disavowal of NATO basics imparted, which none of the alliance’s principals will ever forget, is the American electorate can no longer be trusted. US foreign policy continuity, a decades-long rock all could rely on, fractured as the moron it elected favored Limbaugh rants to daily intelligence briefings, muscular authoritarians to plain-Jane democrats.
Perhaps most critical to Austin’s game plan is his determination that building “a ready and capable force is inextricably linked to our work with our allies and partners.” Coming on the heels of Trump’s constant bellowing about unprecedented US defense expenditures in one breath and derisive complaints about any and all alliance obligations not duly compensated for in the next, Austin’s commingling of purpose and resources is essential grounding to grateful if not warier partners.
The “global posture review” Austin announced the US is undertaking will bear in mind that “each nation faces myriad pressures when it comes to spending on security.” In other words, the US is back to leading and doing rather than whining about being taken advantage of. The immediate halt to Trump’s troop drawdown in Germany, while no surprise, still reinforces that Biden is acting first, and intent on giving very short shrift to holdover MAGA sensibilities in both the House and Senate. Like the deficit, the GOP now only exhibits interest in checking executive power over foreign policy when a Democrat is calling the shots. They will doubtlessly glom on to America First bromides as a basis for obstructing most all of the reset agenda, revising history to claim Trump’s NATO idiocy was merely long overdue tough love only he had the will to demand. Whatever. It’s in the rear view now.
Indeed, as Austin more than implies in his NATO primer, the sooner MAGA dark ages are forgotten, the better. No doubt his peers this week probably feel the same way. However, like so many things we once took for granted pre-MAGA, normalcy feels plenty good, but it’s not going to erase the memory of how quickly it was lost, how uncertain its return seemed, and how much more tenuous it now feels after just four years of America First. BC
Few — with the notable exception of Trump and his minions — doubt that fostering strong alliances with countries that share democratic values is wise. And Austin seems like an admirable leader, as was Mattis. However, I think it’s important to restore and reinforce the precedent of having civilian control of the top Department of Defense leadership. Recently retired generals bring a trade-off between intimate knowledge of the status quo vs. constructive detachment. That said, we also need to be wary of civilian leadership that is too close to defense contractors.