In George Packer’s new biography of the American diplomat Richard Holbrooke, there is an underlying refrain: Foreign policy makes no sense.
Yet we muddle on. Dan Baer, a former U.S. ambassador under President Barack Obama and now one of eight candidates in the Democratic race to take on Republican Sen. Cory Gardner in 2020, announced Thursday that he had won the endorsement of the Foreign Policy for America Action Network, the political action arm of a nonprofit that promotes strong foreign policy and diplomacy. It is a coup for Baer in a crowded field, but we wondered what it would mean – or what he could make it mean – for Coloradans, so we asked him.
“The vast majority of Coloradans I talk to are disturbed by President Trump’s haphazard approach to foreign policy,” Baer emailed us.
“Conventional wisdom says that voters don’t focus on foreign policy, but I think that is unfair to voters – they get that a more chaotic world is a less secure one, and they look at the chaos in the world, and the way Trump is destroying relationships with allies and cozying up to vile dictators, and they think: ‘That makes me feel unsettled about the future, and it certainly doesn’t help me put food on the table and feel confident about providing a better future for my children.’”
It is an uncertain time in world affairs. Trump seems to be redefining relationships with foreign leaders, looking for friends rather than looking out for liberal-democratic interests, and discarding the kinds of alliances that have kept the West secure. Where is the opportunity in that?
“As I travel the state, I find people are receptive to a conversation about how we strengthen America’s relationships around the world – and how America in conjunction with our allies can lead the effort to protect our environment and confront the threat of climate change, and take steps to strengthen our national security, public health and America’s competitiveness in the global economy,” Baer said.
