After hearing the news about the deal brokered between P5+1 and Iran which will
seemingly go a long way toward avoiding another country gaining nuclear weapons, I am left thinking about how amazing the brief tenure of John Kerry has been as our Secretary of State. Sure, President Obama often gets a lot of credit for these achievements, but I don't quite ever see anyone give Kerry nearly as much as I feel we should. Though, I'm sure he receives the accolades, too.
Still, let's take a look at some of the notable foreign-policy achievements that we have seen while Kerry has been SOS:
-Negotiated with Iran along with P5+1 to curtail their nuclear weapons program in exchange for lifting economic sanctions.
-Arranged the capture of Syria's chemical weapons
-Restarted peace negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian leaders
-Ended the decades-long trade embargo with Cuba
-Edit: Getting a climate agreement with China
With the rise of ISIS and other extremists, as well as a more aggressive stance from Russia, it is frankly rather amazing that the United States has not been dragged into more military operations, especially none that could be described as unilateral actions. While it would be impossible to parse out exactly how much of that is owed to the work of Secretary Kerry, it nevertheless remains quite evident that his diplomatic approach has reaped dividends in numerous foreign arenas.
It has often been pointed out that Kerry's background made him an almost perfect fit for the job.
While serving as chairman of the Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee, the 69-year-old Massachusetts Democrat traveled to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Egypt and Sudan, among other places, to advance U.S. aims. He delivered back-channel messages and helped to broker agreements; at a time when Afghan President Hamid Karzai was at odds with several of the administration’s senior officials, Mr. Kerry coaxed him into accepting a runoff election for president.
Furthermore,
Kerry is no stranger to the protest and political agitation activity that is often the lifeblood of Democratic values.
On April 22, 1971, Kerry appeared before a U.S. Senate committee hearing on proposals relating to ending the war. The day after this testimony, Kerry participated in a demonstration with thousands of other veterans in which he and other veterans threw their medals and ribbons over a fence erected at the front steps of the United States Capitol building to dramatize their opposition to the war. Jack Smith, a Marine, read a statement explaining why the veterans were returning their military awards to the government. For more than two hours, almost 1000 angry veterans tossed their medals, ribbons, hats, jackets, and military papers over the fence. Each veteran gave his or her name, hometown, branch of service and a statement. Kerry threw some of his decorations as well as some given to him by other veterans to throw. As Kerry threw his decorations over the fence, his statement was: "I'm not doing this for any violent reasons, but for peace and justice, and to try and make this country wake up once and for all."
Kerry was arrested on May 30, 1971, during a VVAW march to honor American POWs held captive by North Vietnam. The march was planned as a multi-day event from Concord to Boston, and while in Lexington, participants tried to camp on the village green. At 2:30 a.m., local and state police arrested 441 demonstrators, including Kerry, for trespassing. All were given the Miranda Warning and were hauled away on school buses to spend the night at the Lexington Public Works Garage. Kerry and the other protesters later paid a $5 fine, and were released. The mass arrests caused a community backlash and ended up giving positive coverage to the VVAW.
Of course, Kerry's achievements as Secretary of State makes his failed Presidential bid all the more bittersweet. While Presidents are often remembered most for their social issues stances and economic policies, in reality, their powers are more about,
have always been about, representing
the United States on the global stage.
On the other hand, by looking at who the Republican Party turns to on Foreign Policy, the bar is set pretty low. If we look at the GOP's frontrunners for the 2016 Presidential campaign, there's Jeb Bush, who will have to fight hard to distance himself from his brother of Two Wars fame; there's Scott Walker, whose policy is to treat foreign extremists like low-wage laborers; there's Rand Paul, whose foreign policy might best be described as "Eww, cooties;" and there's Ted Cruz, whose major claim to foreign policy fame is that his policy is to not mention that he's foreign-born.
Very few people in the highest levels of our government these days seem to be all that knowledgeable about foreign policy and how to effect change. Lord knows I am not nor will never be such an expert. Still, it doesn't take an expert to see that Kerry has accomplished some amazing things in his brief tenure as Secretary of State.
This is not meant to be a complete reference of all the accomplishments of John Kerry and the Obama administration on the foreign policy front. Nor is it an attempt to deny their many failures. When it comes to something as complex as the United States' relationships with all the countries of the world, nobody should be expected to get it right 100% of the time. Still, as we have seen in the recent past, it can be extremely difficult to push the United States onto new paths, yet Kerry has seemingly been able to do this for more than just ornamental policies.
The fact is, having someone with the skill and knowledge to not only deal with foreign policy both expertly and with a leaning always towards diplomacy over military action, is a rarity. We are now seeing how such a person at the right position can make a tangible difference, and it is something to celebrate.
In the Obama administration, we have seen some great appointments. We have also seen some that have missed the mark. It may be hard to choose any singular one, but out of all of them, I have no doubt that John Kerry stands as one of the few to have accomplished things that we will be receiving benefits from for decades to come.