On Bernie, Foreign Policy and Integrity

I had read several comments by writers about Bernie Sanders’ failure or reluctance to present his foreign policy should he be elected. If true, I could understand such reluctance, especially this early in his campaign.

The functions of foreign policy are so varied, so multipurposed and so remote from the understanding of ordinary people that it can easily become the playground of those who seek to deceive and distract. Bernie is trying to build a common concern and understanding of the major reasons this society has failed and is failing the American people.

That said, I asked myself what might be some of the features of his presumed policy.

One writer who tried to do this decided to review Bernie’s extensive voting record in Congress. He found, for example, that Bernie had voted against every war except one. But these votes were in response to proposals by others and could not be expected to represent Bernie’s own developed thinking.

Knowing that Bernie’s political and social thinking was largely based on the experience of social democrats in Europe, especially in Scandinavia, I decided to look at their foreign policies. One feature stood out, that of peace and the promotion of peace. Indeed, Sweden’s foreign policy expresses that country’s desire to play the role of disinterested facilitator for countries faced with the prospect of war. An especial area of interest is Africa where the world’s major countries are vying for African land and resources.

Sweden has excellent credibility for playing the role of peace facilitator. It has had no war since 1864. All through World War II, in the midst of conflict all around it, it was able to maintain its neutrality. The closest it came to war during that period was when the Nazi regime demanded that Sweden allow them to move troops from Norway to Finland to fight the Russians. The pressure from the Germans became so intense that the Swedes set about arming their nation. The Nazis apparently decided the risk of ocean transport of troops in the Baltic Sea was, after all, preferable to an additional war.

At about this time in my research and in the current election campaign the controversy over the Iran nuclear deal broke out. Obama was trying desperately to find the support he needed in the Senate. Chuck Schumer, the presumed leader of the Democrats once Harry Reid retires in January 2016, declared his opposition to the agreement, whose major opponent was Israel and their immense lobby in Congress.

When Obama contacted Bernie on what his vote would be, Bernie asked some questions and then said he would support the deal the administration had negotiated.

Here were two Jews faced with an issue of war and peace revolving around nuclear warfare. Schumer gave as his primary objection the fact that the agreement would only last for ten years. Even on this basis was not 10 years of peace better than 10 years of almost certain warfare?

If one takes note of the fact that Bernie was raised a devout Jew, going to Hebrew school in the afternoon after public school, and that his father’s family was exterminated in a Nazi concentration camp, whereas I could find no such background for Schumer, Bernie’s integrity and commitment to peace versus the slaughter and suffering of war comes shining through. His commitment to mankind’s wellbeing is greater than that to the special interest of his birth culture. It is this way of thinking and fundamental valuing of humanity as a whole that our times and the future so badly need.

His sterling behavior in this matter reminded me of the behavior of the socialist party in Europe prior to World War I. The socialists sought to prevent the war by calling a general strike that would prevent mobilization and munitions manufacture. It failed because in the end the allegiance to country was greater than that to socialist principle. Not so with Bernie Sanders.

We have a candidate with a long-established concern for humanity’s welfare, an effective politician, a teacher of the populace and a realist who believes we the people can reclaim our democracy. The rarity of this circumstance should prompt all persons concerned for a better world and the survival of our species, to vigorously support him.

Bob Newhard