ANALYSIS/OPINION:
Conservatives should insist that transparency be a vital part of foreign policy. This is not to deny the necessity of state secrets in foreign policy.
Conservatives should demand that each new presidential administration define America’s vital security interests.
Conservative leaders should advance this debate because it will result in a consistent application of foreign policy. World events are fast-moving, and without a predetermined, clearly understood statement of our interests, presidents will not act, but react, to events.
Need an example? Try Libya.
Our muddled operation to remove, or perhaps to not remove, Moammar Gadhafi is the perfect example of a foreign policy lacking in the essential elements of transparency and consistency. Fully five months after entering the skies of Libya, we are still wondering why American treasure is being expended.
In the early days of the operation, the Obama administration sent conflicting signals on whether our involvement there was, or was not, in our security interest. Now, as in many expensive foreign-policy excursions, the issue is off the front page, but the bills keep coming in, and for no apparent purpose.
Conservatives should learn from this experience and cite it often as the reason presidential administrations must clearly and succinctly define American interests, and if none exists, such operations should not be funded by Congress.
The urgent need for consistency and transparency in foreign policy extends beyond the oil states. This month, China launched its first aircraft carrier.
While undoubtedly there are some in the Obama administration who will argue that the ship was built as part of a Chinese stimulus program to provide employment for Chinese shipbuilders, there can be no doubt of China’s true intentions.
China desires to be an active military force to direct events for its own benefit.
It has, thanks to its trade surplus, the means to buy international friends, but it is wise enough to know that on occasion, a show of force can close a deal.
By 2016, the Chinese will have the world’s largest economy, and as a result, the stage is set for an unprecedented struggle for assets and resources, dominance and power.
China’s appetite for energy and minerals has outstripped America’s demand. The United States and China will be dealing with less-developed but mineral-rich nations for the resources to fuel their economies.
A consistent application of foreign policy certainly will play a leading role in determining to whom such sales are made. China is and should remain an essential trading partner for the United States, but as it raises its international status, we must be seen by third-party nations through the execution of our foreign policy as no less than China’s equal.
Conservatives believe that transparency and consistency are vital aspects of governing. If we fail to incorporate these principles into our foreign policy, we will find it more and more difficult to deal with nations that must be our trading partners.
We have an opportunity to redefine America’s image in the world, and we must do so with unmistakable clarity and purpose. Despite coming pressure to do so, we cannot withdraw, we cannot isolate ourselves, and we cannot continue on with a foreign policy of mixed messages.
• Richard Mourdock, Republican state treasurer of Indiana, is running for the U.S. Senate.
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