DISADVANTAGE/BIPARTISANSHIP

LINK: USA SUCCESSFUL FOREIGN INVOLVEMENT DAMAGES BIPARTISANSHIP

AMERICAN TRIMUPHALISM HURTS BIPARTISANSHIP — WINNERS LOSE

Alton Frye, Presidential Senior Fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations, 2001 Spring The Washington Quarterly SECTION: CAN FOREIGN POLICY BE BIPARTISAN?; Analyzing Politics; Vol. 24, No. 2; Pg. 107 HEADLINE: The Opportunity Is Real //VT2002acsln

Working against the possibility of sturdy bipartisan cooperation is a troublesome tendency that is impeding U.S. international leadership: the lingering inclination toward a counterproductive U.S. triumphalism. The sense that the United States is a nation unique in history has found vindication in the end of the Cold War, the disintegration of the Soviet Union, and the spread of democracy to most of the globe. Bush's pride in this country and his Reaganesque call for the United States to play a leading role on the world stage can be a wholesome source of energy and commitment. If overdone, however, that inclination is bound to breed resentment by other states. To avoid that inimical dynamic, Bush will need ample doses of the humility to which he alluded in his campaign. U.S. leaders may believe that the United States is "the indispensable nation" -- to borrow a phrase from the previous administration -- but proclaiming it to be so can only make it less so.

CONGRESSIONAL CONSERVATIVES REPRESENT A THREAT TO FOREIGN POLICY BIPARTISANSHIP

John F. Kerry, US Senator, 2001 Spring The Washington Quarterly SECTION: CAN FOREIGN POLICY BE BIPARTISAN?; Views from the Hill; Vol. 24, No. 2; Pg. 83 HEADLINE: Stopping at the Water's Edge //VT2002acsln

As the Bush administration reaches out to U.S. allies, it will hear the growing refrain that the United States has acted too unilaterally in its international leadership over the last several years. The many examples of the United States trying to go it alone in foreign policy include our failure to sign the 1997 Convention to Ban Landmines; our refusal to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and the Kyoto Protocol; our failure to pay our UN dues on time; our reliance on unilateral, third-party sanctions that punish our closest friends for doing business with nations like Cuba and Iran; and our threat to unilaterally deploy an NMD system. One of Bush's greatest challenges in overcoming the resulting resentment of the United States by our allies will be in confronting members of his own party. Most of these issues have been driven by congressional conservatives, in part out of partisan frustration with a Clinton administration foreign policy they criticized for not being sufficiently focused on U.S. values and priorities. Again, congressional moderates from both sides can help. Bipartisan proposals exist that would reform the U.S. approach to unilateral sanctions, allow the United States to reduce its emission of greenhouse gases, and develop the technology needed to allow the United States to ratify the CTBT while maintaining the reliability of our nuclear arsenal.

Bush has spoken about the need for bipartisan cooperation in the years ahead. Foreign policy may well be one area where a thoughtful, bipartisan agenda can succeed. Perhaps, without the distraction of partisan conflicts with former president Bill Clinton, the next Congress and the new president can build on these proposals and work together to bring the United States closer to the values and interests we share with the friends and allies on whom we depend to maintain international peace and stability.

THERE IS A GROWING BIPARTISAN TREND TOWARD USA ISOLATIONISM

Financial Times (London), October 15, 1999, SECTION: COMMENT & ANALYSIS; Pg. 23, HEADLINE: American isolationism put to the test: Rejection of the nuclear test ban treaty demonstrates how world issues are pushed to the fringe of US politics // ln-10-29-99-acs

Thumbing its nose at the rest of the world was not an option open to the US during its struggle with communism. But it is now, and politicians of both parties - Republicans on national security, and Democrats on trade - seem to be increasingly willing to do so.