Vice President Kamala Harris is a “Human rights hawks“Who will use America’s power to promote democracy and freedom abroad? Or is he a “Realist internationalistWho will withdraw from the dominance of America?
is he ready The end of an era of American pride And will we restore humility in our foreign policy? Or his strong statement about America’s role in the world.”Inner Reagan“?
Two months after the presidential election, there is widespread speculation about what a “Harris Doctrine” might look like for foreign policy, but it often seems to reveal more about what the speculator wants (or doesn’t want) next. President rather than any particular worldview articulated by Harris.
It’s not like the vice president doesn’t have a track record of checking. Although some coverage portrayed him Something of a foreign policy neophyteHe must come to the office A more global experience than Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama or Donald Trump.
He is Dr. as vice president Met dozens of world leadersRepresented the US in global gatherings, and Participated in the President’s daily intelligence briefing. In his Democratic National Convention address, he noted that he had briefed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on US intelligence just days before the 2022 Russian attack on Munich.
The administration also mentioned its role Recent prisoner swaps with Russia. he too was involved US efforts to strengthen alliances in Southeast Asia, particularly with the Philippines. And although he was not the “border czar” he is sometimes portrayed in attack ads, he led the administration’s efforts to “root causeAided Migration in Central America.
It is more difficult to determine how he can be different From the Biden administration, which is trying to pin down all the “Harris Doctrine” speculation. When it comes down to it, analysis often comes down to — to use the buzzword of the moment — vibes.
Same message, new tune
in recent times Time feature On Harris’ record in Ukraine, Ukrainian officials acknowledged that he was involved and showed sympathy for the country’s plight, but one official described it as “formal sympathy following protocol.”
In a recent episode The Ezra Klein Show podcast, the host speculated that as the child of immigrants with a more global outlook, Harris “doesn’t have the same identification” with Israel that Americans of Joe Biden’s generation do. But that’s not quite how Harris describes her own upbringing. In a 2017 speech the right-leaning American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) he reminded As a child in the Bay Area, he collected donations for the Jewish National Fund to plant trees in Israel. In 2019, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency described his Senate record As “more AIPAC than J Street”, referring to the more left-leaning “peace” lobbying group.
When it comes to how Harris might differ from Biden, even subtly, no issue, foreign or domestic, has garnered more attention than the war in Gaza.
Haley Soifer, who served as Harris’ national security adviser in the Senate and is now the director of the American Jewish Democratic Council, told Vox that the two see little in common when it comes to policy regarding Israel and Gaza.
“I think the policy will not change,” he said. “What we saw was some difference when they talked about the conflict, with Vice President Harris not only reiterating his commitment to Israel and its security, but expressing sympathy for innocent Palestinian civilians.”
This is reflected Directed comments Harris called for a civil rights truce in March in Selma, Alabama (comments that were Alleged flooding by administrative officers) as well as in his conference speeches. As my colleague Jack Beauchamp wrote, that speech didn’t particularly differ from Biden’s talking points but, rhetorically at least, presented “the Palestinian desire for self-determination as the moral culmination of the discussion of the issue.”
of slate Fred Kaplan reports Sources close to Harris say he “personally disagrees with it [Biden’s] Framing world politics as a contest between democracy and dictatorship … and seeing that as oversimplifying, and even confusing, the kinds of allies we are sometimes forced to choose.” The Biden administration has been Criticized by some observers Mainly to focus on the “Global South” in the context of competition with Russia and China.
Perhaps reflecting some desire to go beyond this framework, Harris Remarks at the Munich Security Conference earlier this year While visiting African countries, he was constantly asked, “Are you here because of China?” And my answer was, ‘No, we are here because of the people of the African continent.’
Why campaign promises don’t tell us much about Harris’s real policies
It is also quite possible that Harris’s worldview and foreign policy rhetoric are only evolving. Senator Who in 2020 Dr“I unequivocally agree with the goal of reducing the defense budget and redirecting funds to communities in need,” said the now vice president, who “pledged to ensure America always has the strongest, most lethal military force in the world.”
Ultimately, campaign speeches alone will tell you a lot about how a president will conduct foreign policy. Some analysts have noted that, as a senator, Harris advocated reducing support for Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen and “Fundamentally reassessUS-Saudi relations as candidates in 2020. But then again, Biden promised on the campaign trail to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman “the pariahbefore placing cooperation with the country at the center of his Middle East policy.
It’s not just that campaign talk is cheap, it’s that, as noted international relations theorist Mike Tyson said, everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.
George W. Bush came to office promising a “modest” foreign policy that eschewed nation-building crusades. 9/11 changed that.
Obama first identified himself as an opponent of US militarism in the Middle East but will be remembered for the US drone war, the operation that killed Osama bin Laden and helping to overthrow the Libyan government.
Biden’s foreign policy legacy will be largely determined by his response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the October 7 attacks.
“Foreign policy priorities in every administration are largely determined by events,” Soifer said.
If there is a “Harris Doctrine,” we’ll learn what it is only if we see him as president.
