International Policy

War is a wretched tool that has been used repeatedly by our country. Whether we talk about the Vietnam War, the Iraq War, or the War in Afghanistan, the United States has made mistake after mistake and has gone on to hurt people around the world. Millions of innocent civilians were killed in service of war profiteers and oil companies. That state of things must change, the U.S. should do more to help the developing world and to make up for the harm that has been caused by our wars. China’s Belt and Road initiative represents a good example of how to treat other countries and engage in international aid and diplomacy. I believe the U.S. can do even better. The United States and many countries in Europe got many of the economic benefits of industrialization long before we understood the impact that dirty energy has on the environment. The U.S. needs to invest in green infrastructure in developing countries so that they can see the same benefits without the negative impacts to the environment that fossil fuels cause. The U.S. should make sure that people around the world have access to clean drinking water and enough food to live comfortably. As a planet, we already produce far more food than is needed to keep people fed, but that food isn’t distributed properly to ensure that no one goes hungry. 

 Since October 7th, the Israeli government has been attempting to commit an ethnic cleansing, a genocide of the people of Gaza. This disgusting abuse of human rights needs to halt immediately. Benjamin Netanyahu and his cabinet as well as the rest of the war criminals in the Israeli government and military must be put on trial just like the Nazis were in Nuremberg. The heinous crimes that have been committed against the Palestinian people need to be answered for by the people who have committed them. No person of good conscience should support a country that goes on shooting children in the head, bombing hospital after hospital, refugee camp after refugee camp, mass starving a population greater than many states in our country. The issues in Israel do not start on October 7th, the Nakba, the ongoing disenfranchisement of Palestinians within Israel, the segregation and illegality of marriage between Palestinians and Israelis, the ongoing murders committed by settlers who have quite literally stolen the homes that people live in right out from under them are just some examples of the injustices that have been committed against Palestinians. 

The war in Ukraine is another example of imperialism, colonialism, and mass war crimes committed against civilians. Vladimir Putin has acted like Ukraine belongs to Russia by-right, but that is not true. The Ukrainian people do not want to be part of Russia and they have demonstrated that time after time. Some people like to say that Russia was acting in self defense because of the possibility of NATO expansion, but that is not an acceptable reason to do what Russia has done. If Canada or Mexico decided to join a military alliance that was considered an enemy of the United States, we would not be justified in invading them to stop that from happening. The Russian military goes on committing one war crime after the next, having slaughtered whole villages and stolen children to take back to Russia. I do not like war and I am wholly opposed to the military-industrial complex that has taken so much control over our government, but when an ally is invaded, I think it is reasonable to lend them support. 

In the time leading up to the war in Ukraine, Russia armed militant rebel groups in the east of Ukraine. Rwanda has chosen to pursue a similar path, arming rebel groups in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo so that they can steal the resources that the DRC has there. They have committed war crime after war crime. Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced fleeing the violence being committed by Rwandan backed rebel groups. The world cannot go on buying the stolen resources from Rwanda and turning a blind eye to the plight of the people of the DRC who are being affected by this war.