A version of this story appeared in the daily Threat Status newsletter from The Washington Times. Click here to receive Threat Status delivered directly to your inbox each weekday.
OPINION:
A version of this story appeared in the daily Threat Status newsletter from The Washington Times. Click here to receive Threat Status delivered directly to your inbox each weekday.
There’s no question that the world today is more unstable and dangerous than when President Donald Trump left office in January 2021.
President Biden’s Middle East policies of snubbing Israel and appeasing Iran have been spectacular failures and caused an explosion of instability in the region. This includes the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack against Israel in which over 1,200 innocent Israelis were slaughtered, over 150 attacks by proxies of Iran against U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria, and huge advances in Iran’s nuclear program.
The disastrous U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 resulted in the death of 13 American service members and caused enormous damage to our reputation and deterrence on the world stage.
Just after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, North Korea began a surge of ballistic missile launches.
Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, just after Mr. Biden said the U.S. might tolerate a “limited incursion” by Russian forces into Ukraine.
Through the Biden presidency, tensions with China and its military threats to Taiwan have sharply risen. The Biden administration has done little to counter these threats besides sending its officials to Beijing to kowtow to Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Over 11 million aliens, including thousands of criminals and people on terrorist watchlists, have crossed into the United States illegally because Mr. Biden refuses to secure our southern border.
It is hard to believe American and global security could deteriorate so much and so fast in just over three years of a president’s tenure.
It didn’t have to be this way.
This week, the America First Policy Institute released a new book, “An America First Approach to U.S. National Security.” In this important book, 15 leading national security experts, including Rep. Michael Waltz, former State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus, former U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, former acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf and ourselves discuss how America First national security policies successfully promoted peace and security during the Trump years and advanced U.S. interests in Russia, China and the Middle East, as well as trade, energy security and intelligence.
A primary requirement of an America First national security approach is a competent and decisive president who exercises strong leadership, names exemplary national security officials, and implements a coherent and effective foreign policy to protect the United States from foreign threats and promote its interests abroad. This approach also requires a strong military, the prudent use of military force, and keeping U.S. troops out of unnecessary and unending wars. It means working in alliances and with partners to promote regional security while requiring alliance members and allies to carry their full weight in defending security in the region.
Mr. Trump’s America First national security policies challenged the foreign policy establishment and led to major national security achievements.
The most important of these achievements was bringing about a time of peace for our country, and, for the first time in 20 years, the U.S. did not enter a new war abroad.
The United States employed tough policies toward our adversaries Russia, China, Iran and North Korea but kept the door open to diplomacy and dealing with these nations from a position of strength. This included the “maximum pressure” campaign that slashed the Iranian government’s revenue and Mr. Trump’s personal diplomacy with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, which led North Korea to halt its nuclear tests and long-range missile tests.
It is also no accident that Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded neighboring states during three of the last four successive U.S. presidencies, but not during the Trump administration.
There were other major wins for the America First approach to our national security in the Middle East. Mr. Trump’s support of Israel and momentous policies to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and the Abraham Accords transformed Middle East security and created new opportunities for peace.
Contrary to claims by some pundits and journalists, this America First approach is neither isolationist nor a retreat from the United States serving as the leader of the free world.
Given the perilous state of global security today, we believe it is crucial that Americans understand the genius of the America First approach to our national security and how President Biden’s rejection of these policies has endangered our security and freedom. Americans should also recognize the best way to reverse the damage done to U.S. and international security by the Biden administration is to bring back America First national security policies.
• Retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg was an assistant to the president and national security adviser to former President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence. He is currently co-chair of the Center for American Security at the America First Policy Institute. Fred Fleitz is vice chair of the Center for American Security at the America First Policy Institute and editor of “An America First Approach to U.S. National Security.”
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