Michael.H.Prosser

Mitt Romney, Expected 2012 US Republican Nominee, on Foreign Policy and Free Trade: Michael H. Prosser, Ph.D., March 26, 2012 [Post 417]

In the current Republican primary election, I believe that only former US Ambassador to China (2009-2011) Jon Huntsman was a worthy national candidate who understood the necessary terms of the US-Chinese relationships and potentially more broadly with US-Russia, US-Japan, US-India, US-Pakistan, US-Afghanistan, US-Iran, US-Iraq, and US-Middle East. Obviously, Republican primary voters did not see this great and sensible perspective of Huntsman’s as making him a seriously viable candidate, and he was forced to withdraw before the first quarter of the primary season had ended. No doubt, in terms of his present influence on American national strategic visions, he might indeed have provided better national leadership by remaining as the US Ambassador to China. He and Obama could have very meaningful and thoughtful debates in the autumn 2012 general election had he been elected as the Republican presidential nominee.

The statement by the current Republican front-runner in the primaries and expected nominee, Mitt Romney, “If Barack Obama is reelected, Iran will have a bomb. If I am elected president, Iran will not have a bomb,” is only one example of his foreign policy one liners, in this case, unsupported by any evidence in his bipolar statement. It is helpful, however, to see a fuller range of his ideas on foreign policy and free trade to assess his arguments as we move toward the autumn general election.

In Romney’s campaign statement “On the Values of His Foreign Policy at the CBS News/NJ Commander in Chief Debate” November 12, 2011, he made the following statement:

“My foreign policy’s pretty straightforward. I would be guided by an overwhelming conviction that this century must be an American century where America has the strongest values, the strongest economy, and the strongest military. An American century means the century where America leads the free world and the free world leads the entire world. We have a president right now who thinks America’s just another nation. America is an exceptional nation. We have a president who thinks that the way to conduct foreign policy is through his personal affects on other people. I believe the way to conduct foreign policy is with American strength. Everything I do will make America stronger. And I will stand and use whatever means necessary within the law to make sure that we protect America’s citizens and Americans’ rights” (Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs, Georgetown University. November 12, 2011).

Here are other abbreviated summary arguments by Mitt Romney in the last few years on US foreign policy [“On the Issues: Every Public Leader on Every Issue: 2012 Presidential Candidates: Mitt Romney on the Issues”]:

“Critical time for American century vs. European socialism. (Jan 2012)

Use opportunity for regime change in North Korea. (Dec 2011)

Unacceptable for Iran to become a nuclear nation. (Sep 2011)

No European-style solutions to an American problem. (Feb 2011)

Different countries’ paths to decline came from isolation. (Mar 2010)

In long term, Chinese reforms lead to demanding freedom. (Mar 2010)

Post-WWII role: defeat threats to progress of freedom. (Mar 2010)

American Exceptionalism means America need not decline. (Mar 2010)

National turnaround requires leadership; consensus; strength. (Mar 2010)

Unless US changes course, we’ll no longer be superpower. (Feb 2008)

Putin is a troubling leader and an authoritarian. (Jan 2008)

The US is the only major power believing in free enterprise. (Jan 2008)

Free Cuba and eliminate threat of people like Hugo Chavez. (Dec 2007)

2006: Blocked services for Iran’s Khatami speech at Harvard. (Aug 2007)

To win the war on jihad, we need friends in Muslim world. (Aug 2007)

Encourage others to welcome democracy, without military. (Aug 2007)

Move Muslim world toward modernity so they reject extreme. (Aug 2007)

US is not arrogant, but we have resolve. (Jun 2007)”

and Mitt Romney on Free Trade  

“Open new markets to grow; but also enforce fair trade. (Feb 2012)

China’s steel dumping forced US mills to close. (Jan 2012)

We have to open up markets to America’s goods. (Jan 2012)

Trade with China only if they follow international rules. (Nov 2011)

Go to WTO about China; we’re already in a trade war. (Nov 2011)

China is a currency manipulator; go after them for cheating. (Oct 2011)

China doesn’t want to have a trade war; so push hard. (Oct 2011)

Trade is good for the nation, but not good for everybody. (Mar 2010)

Protectionism stifles productivity, under Bush AND Obama. (Mar 2010)

Re-negotiate trade deals with China and other countries. (Dec 2007)

Open up markets to American goods and services. (Oct 2007)

Businesspeople should negotiate trade, not politicians. (Oct 2007)

Emergence of Asia is an opportunity for trade and commerce. (Dec 2006)”

The following 2011-2012 quotes are taken from “Rethinking National Security: 2012 Candidate Quotes on Foreign Policy.” [Only quotes from Romney are included since all indications and statistics in delegate counts in the Republican National Primary of 2012 point to him being the Republican nominee for President in the autumn general election.]

Mitt Romney during a Republican primary debate in Washington, D. C [November 8, 2011]: “I believe America is an exceptional and unique nation. President Obama feels that we’re going to be a nation which has multipolar balancing militaries. I believe that American military superiority is the right course. President Obama says that we have people throughout the world with common interests. I just don’t agree with him. I think there are people in the world that want to oppress other people, that are evil.”

Mitt Romney during a Republican primary debate in Washington, D.C. [November 8, 2011]: “The right course in America is to stand up to Iran with crippling sanctions, indict Ahmadinejad for violating the Geneva — or the Genocide Convention, put in place the kind of crippling sanctions that stop their economy. I know it’s going to make gasoline more expensive. There’s no price which is worth an Iranian nuclear weapon.”

Mitt Romney during a Republican primary debate in Washington, D.C.: “Look, one thing you can know and that is if we reelect Barack Obama, Iran will have a nuclear weapon. And if we elect Mitt Romney, if you elect me as the next president, they will not have a nuclear weapon.”

Mitt Romney during a Republican primary debate in Washington, D.C. on the war in Afghanistan: “Instead, we want to draw them toward modernity. And for that to happen, we don’t want to literally pull up stakes and run out of town after the extraordinary investment that we’ve made. And that means we should have a gradual transition of handing off to the Afghan security forces the responsibility for their own country.”

 Mitt Romney during a Republican primary debate in Jacksonville [Florida, January 26, 2012]: “So when [the founders] said, for instance, that the creator had “endowed us with certain unalienable rights, among them life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” I would seek to assure that those principles and values remain in America and that we help share them with other people in the world, not by conquering them, but by helping them through our trade, through our Mitt Romney during a Republican primary debate in Jacksonville [Florida]: I will use every resource we have, short of invasion and military action, Congressman Paul. I’ll use every resource we can to make sure that when Fidel Castro finally leaves this planet, that we are able to help the people of Cuba enjoy freedom. various forms of soft power, to help bring people the joy and — and — and opportunity that exists in this great land.”

Mitt Romney during an address to AIPAC [American Israel Public Affairs Committee; March 6, 2012]: “As President, I will treat our allies and friends like friends and allies. In recent days and weeks, we’ve heard a lot of words from the administration. Its clear message has been to warn Israel to consider the costs of military action against Iran. I do not believe that we should be issuing public warnings that create distance between the United States and Israel. Israel does not need public lectures about how to weigh decisions of war and peace. It needs our support.” [He also says that his first overseas visit as president would be to Jerusalem.]

Mitt Romney in an address to AIPAC: “As President, I will treat our allies and friends like friends and allies. In recent days and weeks, we’ve heard a lot of words from the administration. Its clear message has been to warn Israel to consider the costs of military action against Iran. I do not believe that we should be issuing public warnings that create distance between the United States and Israel. Israel does not need public lectures about how to weigh decisions of war and peace. It needs our support.”

Mitt Romney in his white paper [January 29, 2012]: “With the Kremlin’s leverage over the energy supplies of Central and Western Europe, its stockpile of nuclear weapons, its recent history of aggressive military action, and the power it wields in multilateral institutions like the United Nations, Russia is a destabilizing force on the world stage. It needs to be tempered.”

Mitt Romney in his white paper: “Mitt Romney will never make national-security decisions based upon electoral politics. Upon taking office, he will review our transition to the Afghan military by holding discussions with our commanders in the field. He will order a full interagency assessment of our military and assistance presence in Afghanistan to determine the level required to secure our gains and to train Afghan forces to the point where they can protect the sovereignty of Afghanistan from the tyranny of the Taliban. Withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan under a Romney administration will be based on conditions on the ground as assessed by our military commander.”

Mitt Romney in his white paper: “With the Kremlin’s leverage over the energy supplies of Central and Western Europe, its stockpile of nuclear weapons, its recent history of aggressive military action, and the power it wields in multilateral institutions like the United Nations, Russia is a destabilizing force on the world stage. It needs to be tempered.”

Mitt Romney after the Russian Presidential elections [March 13, 2012]: “What the world witnessed in Russia yesterday was a mockery of the democratic process. Instead of stating that it ‘congratulates the Russian people on the completion of the presidential elections,’ as the Obama administration has done, it should have condemned the flagrant manipulation and media restrictions that marred this election. With the dimming of democracy in Russia, a better label for President Obama’s Russia policy is ‘set back’ rather than ‘reset.’”

Mitt Romney in a Washington Post op-ed [“How I Would Check Iran’s Nuclear Ambition,” March 5, 2012]: If the Iranians are permitted to get the bomb, the consequences will be as uncontrollable as they are horrendous. My foreign policy plan to avert this catastrophe is plain: Either the ayatollahs will get the message, or they will learn some very painful lessons about the meaning of American resolve.”

Mitt Romney during remarks to the Republican Jewish Coalition [December 7, 2011]: “I would not meet with Ahmadinejad. He should be excluded from diplomatic society. He should be indicted for the crime of incitement to genocide under Article III of the Genocide Convention. Iran’s ayatollahs will not be permitted to obtain nuclear weapons on my watch. A nuclear-armed Iran is not only a threat to Israel, it is a threat to the entire world.  Our friends must never fear that we will not stand by them in an hour of need. Our enemies should never doubt our resolve. [Obama] has been timid and weak in the face of the existential threat of a nuclear Iran.”

Mitt Romney in an op-ed: “I will begin by imposing a new round of far tougher economic sanctions on Iran. I will do this together with the world if we can, unilaterally if we must. I will speak out forcefully on behalf of Iranian dissidents. I will back up American diplomacy with a very real and very credible military option. I will restore the regular presence of aircraft carrier groups in the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf region simultaneously. I will increase military assistance to Israel and coordination with all of our allies in the region. These actions will send an unequivocal signal to Iran that the United States, acting in concert with allies, will never permit Iran to obtain nuclear weapons.”

Mitt Romney during a Republican primary debate in Spartanburg [November 11, 2011, South Carolina]: “We don’t negotiate with terrorists. I’d not negotiate with the Taliban. That’s something for the Afghans to decide, how they’re going to pursue their course in the future.”

Mitt Romney‘s response to a question about whether the United States should negotiate with the Taliban to end the fighting in Afghanistan: “These people have declared war on us. They’ve killed Americans. We go anywhere they are and we kill them.”

Mitt Romney during a Republican primary debate in Manchester [January 9, 2012, New Hampshire]: “My own view on the relationship with China is this, which is that China is stealing our intellectual property, our patents, our designs, our know-how, our brand names. They’re hacking into our computers, stealing information from not only corporate computers but from government computers. And they’re manipulating their currency. And if I’m president of the United States, I’m not going to continue to talk about how important China is and how we have to get along. And I believe those things. They’re very important. And we do have to get along. But I’m also going to tell the Chinese it’s time to stop. You have to play by the rules. I will not let you kill American jobs any longer.”