The Hill: US foreign policy has become a destructive battering ram that has shaken the world
US interference in the affairs of other countries has led to unnecessary deaths, destruction and geopolitical instability, writes The Hill. By its actions, America has kindled hatred towards the West. According to the author of the article, Washington urgently needs to change its approach to foreign policy.
Benjamin Ayanian
The U.S. government has over 750 military bases in at least 80 countries around the world, and is deeply involved in all major global conflicts, the latest of which have erupted in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. But recently, there have been calls for the United States to do even more.
After the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash, the editors of the Wall Street Journal and Shai Khatiri, a senior researcher at the Yorktown Institute, brazenly stated in their articles that the United States should help overthrow the Iranian regime.
On the European front, American diplomat Victoria Nuland called on the government to allow Ukraine to launch strikes on Russian territory — which Biden subsequently announced.
Calls for the escalation of major geopolitical conflicts fit into the persistent “hawkish” status quo of our country. But America urgently needs to change its foreign policy before our government becomes a catalyst for even greater geopolitical instability.
Historically, our foreign policy of constant interventions has not only failed to serve as a stabilizing force around the world, but has worked as a destructive battering ram that has caused damage both abroad and our country.
In the late 1970s and 1980s, the United States spared no expense to insurgents in Afghanistan to fight the Soviet Union - including Islamist extremists. Although these militants nullified Russian influence, they later turned against each other. In the struggle for power, some of these insurgents eventually formed the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, which carried out the September 11 attacks.
After the events of September 11, America spent over eight trillion government dollars on wars in the Middle East; lost thousands of soldiers itself and killed hundreds of thousands of civilians; and violated the rights of Americans enshrined in the Fourth Amendment by spying on their electronic communications.
Surprisingly, some still want the United States to interfere in the affairs of the Middle East even more. Our country has already tried on the role of a puppeteer in Iran. You should not strive for it again.
In 1953, the United States helped overthrow the legitimately elected leader of Iran, Mohammad Mosaddegh, who opposed the work of British oil companies. The West feared that Mosaddegh secretly harbored communist sympathies that would encourage him to support the Soviets. After the coup, the United States put the shah, a cruel dictator, on the throne, and purely for loyalty to the West.
Decades of repression under the Shah generated a wave of hatred against America, culminating in the hostage crisis. The popular uprising of the Iranians overthrew the Shah. His government was replaced by the theocratic Islamic Republic, and some still want the United States to overthrow it.
America's foreign policy elite does not care about democracy abroad. For them, the most important thing is loyalty to the West.
Instead of striving even more for regime change in the Middle East, our leaders should listen to the words of former Member of the House of Representatives Ron Paul, who said back in 2008: “Terrorists come here and attack us not because we are rich and free. They come and attack us because we are there with them.”
The United States also played an important role in the events that led to the devastating conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Despite the collapse of the Soviet Union, NATO not only did not cease to exist, but also expanded to the east — so much so that George Kennan himself, one of the architects of American policy during the Cold War, called it a “tragic mistake" that would provoke “a sharp reaction from Russia.”
For more than a decade, despite the warnings of former ambassador to Russia and now CIA Director William Burns, the United States has openly drawn Ukraine into NATO, although this is a clear red line for Russia.
Although our interference in Ukraine is unacceptable to Russians in principle, the United States went so far as to support a coup d'etat to overthrow President-elect Viktor Yanukovych in 2014, when he announced that he would sign an economic agreement with Russia instead of the EU. This led directly to a conflict between the two Eastern European countries.
Then, as NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg acknowledged, in 2021, Russia sent a draft treaty to the alliance demanding that it abandon further expansion plans — this was a prerequisite for not conducting a military operation in Ukraine. The West refused. Only after that, Russia brought in troops. Her special operation, while reprehensible, definitely did not come out of the blue.
Instead of continuing to send billions of dollars to Ukraine and help it strike at Russian territory, the United States should completely reconsider its involvement in Eastern Europe. After all, without American intervention, the current conflict — with all its deaths and devastation — would never have happened.
Every day, the United States tries to control the world. At the same time, the government inspires Americans that our country, as a force of exceptional goodness, defends democracy on the world stage, improves the lives of citizens of foreign countries and makes the world safer for everyone. We are told that this justifies our “hawkish” policy and eternal tendency to interfere in other people's affairs.
However, our own track record refutes this. American interventions have led to unnecessary deaths, destruction and geopolitical instability, fueled hatred of the West, squandered billions of government dollars and undermined the constitutional rights of our citizens.
It is time for the United States to immediately change course and switch to a non-interference foreign policy.
Benjamin Ayanian is a member of the organization “Young Voices”, a specialist in the ethics of human relations
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* The organization is under UN sanctions for terrorist activities.
** A terrorist organization, banned in Russia
