Who are America’s Enemies?

Currently there are a lot of Democrats stressing that Russia is an enemy of the United States.

All of this is in reaction to President Elect Donald Trump’s apparent bromance with Vladimir Putin. His appointments have strengthened the image of his tilt to Moscow, particularly his choice for Secretary of State.

The talking heads on MSNBC and CNN appear to be leaning toward a more robustly anti Russian posture for Democrats. One that is troubling to me.

Yes, I am skeptical about Trumps pro Moscow tilt and yes, I do believe the Russian thumb on the electoral process may have tilted the scale.

But I want to stress that the enemy is not Russia, but its leadership, in the form of Trump and Tillerson’s buddy, Vlad.

Let’s not let the pain of the past election steer the Democratic party into a we against our enemies posture.

Russia under Putin is a threat.

Iran is a threat, as is China particularly in the South China Sea.

These are threats, not enemies.  Their goals, aspirations and national interest may run counter to ours. That is the realm of diplomacy, and schwerd strategies and alliances. To declare them enemies is counter productive to a goal of building a harmonious world in which our national interests can flourish.

If there is one enemy, it may well be The Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea. In their case, we still are at best in an armistice, with more than casual saber rattling  by the other side.

 

All four actors along with ISIS and the general terrorism threat all constitute challenges to the United States.

But until there is an actual act of war, they are not enemies.  ISIS is an enemy, the others something less.  And the focus should be to deal with them on a practical level, without the enemy moniker.

Trump is right that it would be great to have Russia as friend.  To ignore Putin’s encroachments and violations of international norms in the Ukraine, Syria and elsewhere is foolish on the Donald’s part.

To make Russia a rhetorical enemy, as a tool to paint Trump as bumpkin or puppet is over playing the hand.  Yes we should advocate for policies designed to counter Putin’s moves, to ensure freedom on the seas in the South China sea, and to defuse the Shiite Sunni conflict. But lets do so from a constructive framework, not that of war and enemies.