January 29th, 2020 | Written by - Ria Raj '21
In the heat of the upcoming 2020 elections, it’s time we confront an overarching issue which has persevered through both left and right administrations: America’s unconditional support for repressive governments on the basis of unprincipled ideals. These ideals range from America’s excessive anti-terrorism tactics to the governmental oil obsession, which seems to dominate our foreign policy initiatives. Nonetheless, America defines itself as an integral democratic leader of the international order yet we are not living up to our very own democratic ideals. The “land of the free” and “home of the brave” is finding itself to be quite hypocritical.
America’s history confronts concepts of “Manifest Destiny” and “American Exceptionalism,” various attempts to spread the so called American “beacon of democracy” on a global scale, defining American society and culture to be above those of the international community. But the clear irony of this lies in some of the darker parts of our history. During the Cold War, for instance, America often allowed anti-communist rhetoric to supersede basic human rights. A key example of this would be American support for the South African Apartheid government, simply because they painted themselves to be anti-communist. This phenomenon continues as we enter the new decade.
From Saudi Arabia’s oppressive monarchy to India’s rapidly growing Hindu nationalism, individuals across the global community are subject to discrimination and oppressive rule. Whether it’s Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro, often referred to as a fascist, or Israel’s entrenched political leadership, these governments all have one uniting factor: unconditional American support.
As a product of this, I find American fingerprints on the Yemen carnage. Back in 2015, Saudi Arabia and eight other majority Sunni Muslim nations began an air campaign aimed at restoring a fallen government in Yemen. Unfortunately, over 70,000 Yemenis have died in the civil war (in which Saudi Arabia plays a major role), and the country stands on the brink of a calamitous famine. However, Saudi Arabia is most definitely not a lone perpetrator, in fact, the Saudi Arabian coalition receives logistical and intelligence support directly from the United States. America pulled out of the Paris Climate Accords in 2017, prompting Brazil’s suspension of the United Nations Climate Summit, which was originally to be held in Brazil, and marking America as a country negligent of climate change. I regard Netanyahu's position as Israel’s entrenched political leader to be partially in the hands of our executive branch and it’s undeniable support for his administration. This support comes despite the fact that Netanyahu is facing numerous charges of indictment and has previously been party to breaches of international law. Not only this, but Jewish people across the global community yearn for a more progressive leader. Examples like these show clear denial of American commitment to the rule of law, human rights, and democracy.
Many argue that the prioritization of internal growth is key and that is why we choose to support repressive governments - because it serves some sort of domestic benefit for America. Promoting internal growth is a completely viable goal of the United States government, which should be supported. My issue with this simply lies in the way we chose to achieve internal growth. Internal growth should not come at the cost of human lives, nor at the cost of a deteriorating planet earth. Truly achieving internal progress means embracing the democratic ideals which should govern more than just our domestic policy. American politicians tend to underplay their relationships with repressive regimes, lauding lofty “American values” instead, but it is time we begin adopting these same domestic democratic values within our own foreign policy.
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