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The Bush Administration has failed miserably to construct a logical,
workable, long-term foreign policy to deal with our national dependence
on imported oil. Our trade policies are creating strong deflationary
pressure on the US Dollar in world trade. Our lack of government
provided national healthcare puts our manufacturers at an extreme
disadvantage in competition with foreign manufacturers. Our government
has not promoted energy conservation or the systematic promotion
of alternative, renewable energy industries. Our national dependence
on imported oil is a critical weakness of and threat to American
global interests.
Our trade deficits in both manufactured products and energy imports
are undermining our currency and our national security. If oil
producers completely abandon trade in American dollars, our energy
import costs could explode in dollar terms. Our nation would likely
suffer runaway inflation, energy shortages and a sharp drop in
economic output. Unemployment will soar. Our national debt and
trade deficits would rise rapidly.
In terms of protracted global war, we are no longer as self-reliant
as we were during the 20th Century. Our heavy industry has been
battered by corporate outsourcing and unfair international trade
deals. Steel, automobile manufacturing, electronics and other industries
supply the war materials needed in a protracted armed conflict.
Additionally, our military and manufacturing is dependent on imported
energy supplies.
The United States needs to try to mend our international relationships
with key oil exporters in the short-term. In the long-term, we
need to invest heavily in alternative energy development. We need
to promote by government policy the conservation of energy. We
need to curtail imports of manufactured goods and oil. We should
take the burden of employee healthcare costs off the backs of American
business. American government needs to meet American healthcare
needs instead of our manufacturers.
Our nation needs to mend our relationships with Venezuela, Iran
and Russia. We do not have to be close friends but the rhetoric
of hostility on all sides is not constructive.
The Bush Administration was absolutely stupid to support the attempted
overthrow of the elected leader of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez. It will
likely take a new elected Democratic American President to put
US-Venezuelan governmental relations on a new, more positive footing.
Both nations need each other in terms of international trade.
Iran is in geopolitical terms a natural ally of the United States.
It is very unfortunate that our government supported the former
Shah of Iran when he overthrew an elected government. We are still
paying a huge price for our past support of a brutal dictatorship.
We do not have to approve of foreign governments to engage in international
trade. Trade with Iran might promote peace in the Middle East.
The past 30 years of Iranian-American tensions have not served
our interests.
The Bush Administration complicated reconciliation with Iran greatly
by occupying Iraq. Iran has close ties with the Shiites in Iraq.
The American military looks like a potential invasion threat by
the Iranian leadership. The Iranian nuclear program looks like
a response to the perceived American military threat. Bush worries
the Iranian leadership because of his record of military adventures.
Bush and his Neo-Con allies look like war-mongers to most of the
world. Improvements between Iran and the United States are unlikely
until after a new American Democratic President is installed in
office.
Russian-American relations could be better but are not as bad
as those with Iran and Venezuela. Russian energy production is
vital to meeting European and Asian needs. We want to promote Russian
democracy and anti-corruption efforts. We should encourage American
investment in Russian energy production but discourage authoritarian
tendencies from the Putin government.
The Bush Administration needs to look for equal partners seeking
mutual benefits. We need to stop trying to dominant and control
our trading partners. We need to reorganize our economy and government
to meet the international demands of a multi-polar of the 21st
Century World.
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