This post lacks the Middle East foreign policy focus that trends throughout my previous posts, however, it touches on foreign policy as a whole and how conservative idiocy is detrimental to U.S. diplomatic efforts. The government shutdown affects more people than just those representing Democratic party. In addition to the suspension of "non-essential" government services and the furlough of approximately 800,000 workers, this current conservative temper tantrum has created a ripple effect that stretches overseas. Although the effects of the shutdown have a much wider reach, for my purposes, I am concerned about the wrench it has thrown in the works of U.S. diplomatic efforts.
In the light of growing instability in the Middle East and North Korea, and our tenuous relationships with numerous other nations, our diplomatic efforts are more crucial than ever before. Due to the government shutdown, President Barack Obama has once again been forced to postpone a diplomatic visit to Asia, specifically Indonesia for a vital opportunity to boost appeal for more extensive U.S.-Asia trade agreements. In his blog post about Obama's postponed trip, Max Fisher of the Washington Post emphasizes the vital symbolic importance of this missed diplomatic opportunity. The United States wishes to shift its foreign policy focus away from the Middle East and more towards Asia--a region full of commercial, entrepreneurial and technological promise. President Obama's failure to appear at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Bali projects an image of America as a nation that is slowly decreasing in global influence, which is exactly the opposite of the image we should be casting as we carry on our competition with China and Russia.
While the Republican Party thought that the shutdown would coerce Democrats into repealing an act that gained the approval of Congress, the Supreme Court and the United States populace, they are, in fact, shaming America's reputation the world over.
Thanks, guys.
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