Richard Haass
Appearances
Consider This from NPR
How Trump's foreign policy is reshaping the world order
He might be, but at enormous cost. It's one thing to say the rest of the world needs to do more and let's plan, say, a 10-year transition. which is orderly where we dial up the rest of the world and say dial down the United States so our foes are not encouraged and so our allies are not unnerved. But this is not that. This is much more of a switch than a dial.
Consider This from NPR
How Trump's foreign policy is reshaping the world order
And the danger is that you have opportunities where adversaries see the reason to attack. You see some of our friends saying either we have to appease a powerful neighbor or maybe we need nuclear weapons of our own. So there's a chance that some good will come of this. I don't deny that the Europeans might actually do more and they should do more with their conventional military forces.
Consider This from NPR
How Trump's foreign policy is reshaping the world order
But this is highly disruptive and comes at great risk.
Consider This from NPR
How Trump's foreign policy is reshaping the world order
Extraordinarily difficult. Europeans can only do so much. They don't have the defense industries. They don't have the large inventories to transfer. But Ukraine can hold on. The problem is without the United States supporting Ukraine, it's quite probable that Vladimir Putin will not have the incentive to compromise, to accept a ceasefire, except on terms that are quite draconian.
Consider This from NPR
How Trump's foreign policy is reshaping the world order
Right, and that's what's missing. I don't understand about the president's approach. He says he wants to be a peacemaker here. Well, the best way to get a peace is to persuade Vladimir Putin that the United States and the West will stand by Ukraine, so continued war by Russia will not lead Mr. Putin to anything that resembles success. We've done just the opposite.
Consider This from NPR
How Trump's foreign policy is reshaping the world order
So Vladimir Putin's sitting in the Kremlin going, why should I compromise?
Consider This from NPR
How Trump's foreign policy is reshaping the world order
If by win this war, you mean recover all of its territory going back to 1991, you're right. And that was actually a good strategic insight of this administration that militarily recovering all Ukraine had lost in 2014 and 2022 was not realistic. And the Biden administration refused to do that. But the other way to define success is you have a ceasefire.
Consider This from NPR
How Trump's foreign policy is reshaping the world order
Ukraine keeps what it has now, which is 80% of its territory. The war stops. And then you have the ability over years or decades to negotiate. And maybe you come up with a new relationship between Ukraine and, say, a post-Vladimir Putin Russia. So again, I think there's all sorts of possibilities. But success should not be defined either as Ukraine recovering all of its territory militarily.
Consider This from NPR
How Trump's foreign policy is reshaping the world order
That's a non-starter. Or giving Vladimir Putin everything he wants.
Consider This from NPR
How Trump's foreign policy is reshaping the world order
To put it bluntly, the post-war order is on life support. It's a tragedy. I've never seen this before in history. I'm used to empires or orders crumbling. I'm used to them being overwhelmed. I've never seen the side, the country that created it and maintained it dismantling it. And that is exactly what we are doing.
Consider This from NPR
How Trump's foreign policy is reshaping the world order
And what's so tragic about it is the great strategic advantage of American foreign policy We wake up every morning and we have this pool of partners, dozens in Europe and in Asia, that are willing to work with us militarily to deter conflict, to fight them if need be, willing to trade with us, invest with us, and so forth.
Consider This from NPR
How Trump's foreign policy is reshaping the world order
And we are undermining that and for nothing that's necessarily good or even in any way comparable in return.
Consider This from NPR
How Trump's foreign policy is reshaping the world order
Could be a world of much more disorder where adversaries see opportunities. Could be a world of spheres of influence where China says, oh, we're going to do with Taiwan and others what we want. Where Russia controls big parts of Europe. Where the United States, consistent with some of what the president has said, seems to play a more aggressive role in the Western economy. hemisphere.
Consider This from NPR
How Trump's foreign policy is reshaping the world order
So that's possible too. The problem is any one of those worlds has far more conflict to it, far less prosperity, and far less freedom. So I just don't understand why we would trade in an approach to the world that has worked for 80 years for something that's far more risky and potentially far more costly.
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How Trump's foreign policy is reshaping the world order
It's not a question I ever expected to get, but here we are. No, I think one of the things that's happened is that allies have lost, under this administration, their special place. The fact that they are dependent on us for security, the fact that they trade with us, has actually become sources of leverage on the part of the United States. So being an ally
Consider This from NPR
How Trump's foreign policy is reshaping the world order
in many ways, has become something of a liability. That's why, again, you'll see certain allies trying to become more self-sufficient. Some may actually think they need nuclear weapons to become really safe. Others may say, wow, we have to appease China or Russia because we can't count on the United States anymore. But no, I think you're right. The basic point is that allies of the United States
Consider This from NPR
How Trump's foreign policy is reshaping the world order
no longer feel they are in an advantage position and they are going to be casting about for alternatives.
Consider This from NPR
How Trump's foreign policy is reshaping the world order
In a word, I'm very surprised by what I'm seeing. I followed closely President Trump's first term, which, while something of a departure, was still on the playing field. Trump 2.0 is qualitatively different. It's far more radical. I would never use the word conservative. It's the opposite of conservative because rather than conserving, it is disrupting.
Consider This from NPR
How Trump's foreign policy is reshaping the world order
And we see all these alliance relationships being disrupted. We see in some times now an unconditional reaching out to adversaries like Trump like Russia. And what we don't see is what the president proposes to put in place of the existing order. It seems to be a world, if you will, without structure, without permanent relationships.
Consider This from NPR
How Trump's foreign policy is reshaping the world order
And it's not something that was talked about during the campaign. And I think when people went to the polls, this is not what they voted for. It's not what they bargained for, but it is what they're getting.