Transcripts For ALJAZ The Bottom Line 20240712 : vimarsana.c

ALJAZ The Bottom Line July 12, 2024

President donald trump has cost an early ballot near his private resort in florida he once again called into question the legitimacy of mail and ballots without evidence it was a very secure vote much more secure that when you send in a ballot i could tell you that everything was perfect very strict right by the rules when you send in your ballots could never be like that you could never be secure like that theyve done a fantastic you have a great people and. So but its an honor to be voting its an honor to be in this great area which i know so well. Us democratic president ial nominee joe biden is campaigning in the swing state of pennsylvania he told voters the election could come down to them times are hard unemployment is way out folks are worried about making their next rent or mortgage payment. Whether their health care will be ripped away in the middle of a pandemic worried about sending their kids to school worried about not sending their kids to school they see folks at the top doing much better all the rest are wondering who are going to after me as Donald Trumps presidency a mosque in france has held prayers and tribute to a teacher who was beheaded last week and there was heavy Police Presence off the threats of violence against. The murder has caused outrage across france. France has recalled its ambassador from taking a diplomatic spat over islamic rights to his president said his french counterpart a man you might call needed mental treatment over his as it cheats towards muslims those are the headlines bottom line is next. Include the same line people have being killed to be. In the United States have privatized the whole team of public interest. This was a deal with saudi arabia things were done differently saudis and other arabs when they came to britain would be cool to help the defense bombs due to low fuel rumsfeld was meeting saddam is interesting. On aljazeera hi im Steve Clemons and i have a question how is america going to reconnect with the world after the election battle between donald trump and joe biden lets get to the bottom line. Very soon well know which kind of Foreign Policy americans actually want will the u. S. Be led by a president who shoots from the hip hates International Obligations prefers temporary deals over long term alliances and just could care less about socalled western values or will it be someone who Still Believes in the world order created after world war 2 where america leans in on Global Security and works with allies to solve Big International problems and invests in institutions like nato the w t o and the United Nations with so many questions were fortunate today to be joined by someone who has all the answers at least some of them and master Nicholas Burns has spent close to 30 years in american diplomacy hes worked under republican and democratic administrations and service the number 3 official in the state department hes also an adviser to the Biden Campaign and teaches diplomacy and International Politics at harvards Harvard University and is director of the world renowned aspen stride Strategy Group nick its great to be with you today let me just ask you point blank as we start this conversation when we look at the question of you know america engaged in the rest of the world does it really matter who wins this election. Oh steve it matters greatly i mean there are 2 very divergent passed the United States in this november 3rd election and you just framed it in your opening dont trump in my judgment has been the weakest american president in our lifetime maybe in all of American History when it comes to the rest of the world he has spurned our alliances hes thrown the global trade pick system into disarray he has not stood up for democracy in a time of the increased power of authoritarian states like china and russia you can see the damage theyre doing to human rights and democracy around the world and steve as you and i know that one of the strengths of america is the fact that were an immigrant nation that were multiethnic and multireligious and made it multiracial and donald trump being closing the doors to immigrants who strengthen our society as well as to refugees so i think he turned to american Foreign Policy upside down where more isolated were not respected by our friends and it shows in the pew Public Opinion poll just last month which showed that in many allied countries around the world Vladimir Putin and she shouldnt be paying have a higher confidence rating in places like germany and donald trump thats a crisis they arent States Joe Biden is the antithesis and he will return us i think to the global role that we need to play you when you kind of look at this kind of broad question about you know the election we dont know the outcome of this election but theyre whether joe biden wins or not a huge number of americans are going to vote for donald trump what has not connected with them about the importance of the american Foreign Policy course that youre talking about well hopefully as you noted im going to advisor to the Biden Campaign a bigger number of americans will vote for joe biden and steve i can cite into your question by saying look at our Public Opinion polls the American People consistently rate nato very highly 75 percent of americans support it in the Chicago Council and global affairs. Poll the American People are not isolationist not the majority of the American People they want us to Pay Attention to our alliances they want us to be involved in efforts to stem the pandemic the majority of americans dont believe we should have left the World Health Organization so i think that Vice President biden is much more in tune with the greatest number of people in the United States the majority than donald trump for those supporting donald trump perhaps they think that his kind of bravado on the world stage and telling it like it is and the out right can castigation in criticism of our allies its a very freshening way for an american president to act perhaps they dont feel connected to the reality and that is that you know a great number of jobs of the United States depend on our ability to export were connected to the Global Economy and in the big issues steve that you and i have talked about Climate Change the pandemic the Global Economy and getting out of the recession the u. S. Cant do that alone weve got to be engaged with the world thats what joe biden represents nick you and i is also talking about the trust deficit out there in the rest of the world that when they dont think they can necessarily count on the United States in their dark days those are allies when you get to problematic countries you know theyre filling a void right now in their own behavior and actions i guess my question to you is can trust balance back or snap back. Well steve i think ive separated 2 categories many of the allied governments take the governments of the nato countries are east asian alliances with Australia Japan south korea i think if joe biden wins there are no welcome him back and welcome and engaged productive and active america back on the global scene because they want to see that america is in the interests of those countries to have the United States be active in the world i frankly think that foreign publics it may take a while for them to come back you know we left under Donald Trumps real leadership we made the disastrous decision to leave the paris Climate Change agreement you and i know you know pretty well its low is the major issue in europe Climate Change along with a pandemic i dont think publics will forgive the United States as easily it will have to earn back the trust on the pandemic we are the largest we were the largest financial contributor to the world or the help organisation and we left it and left the rest of the world high and dry in the middle of a pandemic thats going to take a while to come back but you know what percentage in effort with decades of experience the track record that joe biden has i think a close that gap with publics as well you know 2 of the biggest features of the Obama Administration where the Iran Nuclear Deal the j c. P. O. Way but also something you know many people dont talk very much about but president obama had for Nuclear Summit but dealing with Nuclear Materials nonproliferation and weve seen the deterioration of those deals with the russians and other parties out there i guess my question is is a u. Turn possible on some of these key pieces of what president obama tried to put in place but but but president didnt continue. Well i think certainly no one thinks we can go back to the world of 2016 you know Vice President biden if you elect is going to be projecting forward in this decade but youre right steve were living perhaps at the most unsecure time in terms of the safety and the number of the types of Nuclear Weapons in the 1000 from the 1960 s. The i. N. F. Treaty interment in intermediate range Nuclear Forces treaty lapsed a year and a half ago the start treaty that limits between the United States and russia the most powerful Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles and Nuclear Warheads that is going to lapse on february 1st 2021 just a couple of months from now unless there is action and you see china completely unconstrained as a Nuclear Weapons power you saw india and pakistan clash last year fortunately mercifully it without Nuclear Weapons but they did with conventional weapons so i think arms control limiting. The number and type of Nuclear Weapons both strategic an intermediate is going to be a major priority and again Vice President biden has a lot of experience in this domain with a lot of good people around him but President Trump has made a hash of it so it just adds to that list of actions that will be on president elect joe bidens plate on january 20th in just a couple of months if he if he does win this election nic youve dealt with the entire world and understand the priority of threats that are facing the country im just interested in how if if you and the biden team come in how are they going to deal with russia how are they going to deal with china in ways that are different than what we see today. Well steve youll appreciate this i certainly dont want to if i was president bidens elected president the United States i dont want to predict what hes going to do hell have to make those decisions if that time comes ill just keep my personal view though i think theres no question that here in the United States were looking at a very worrisome rise of chinese aggressiveness and chinese power in the world that it really has to be issue number one for the United States in terms of the threats to the country to see what china did just during the pandemic this past summer its aggressive actions to stop a conflict with india on their very long border in the himalayas the fact that china smothered hong kongs democracy this past summer with a new security law that it was aggressive and bullying towards the philippines and vietnam and the South China Sea and very much aggressive and sanctioning towards the United States and she the rise of china and the aggressiveness of the xi jinping government is a fundamental issue of the United States id id put frankly out glad amir putin is acting in a similarly aggressive way if you look at what hes done in ukraine the threats hes made to the people just trying to demonstrate for democracy in bellerose the threats constantly to our nato allies in Eastern Europe that these 2 authoritarian powers are challenging the democratic world and unfortunately steve we dont have an american president right now who will stand up to them he wants to embrace them and hes not been tough enough and Strong Enough in dealing with him i think thats problem number one of course terrorism and the threat of terrorism is an abiding concern and a very serious continued threat to the United States we know that the Islamic State is still not completely destroyed and that has to be a goal of the United States and our allies certainly on top of all of that in terms of immediate importance its the coronavirus and its the pandemic the 2nd wave that we think we may now be experienced. And here in the United States the United States has to work both within our country and also with other countries to bring it to a close hopefully with the arrival of impact seen if that happens in 2021 and the dispersal and distribution of that vaccine around the world and around the United States trying to climb out of the global recession that has been so injurious to so Many Americans whoevers elected and i hope is going to be Vice President biden is going to have perhaps the most difficult global agenda that any president has faced since the 1930 s. Global a National Agenda i should say since franklin up wrote Eleanor Roosevelt was elected in 1932 but joe bidens up to it and hes going to have a lot of support in the country to be an activist president who tries to heal the country and unite as to combat these these Major Concerns how do you make the case to americans that feel that they fought in iraq they fought in afghanistan they fought in korea they fought in vietnam you know generations of military families who feel after financial crises and you know sort of tough times that they fought these wars helping to secure the world but sort of china has won and im related to a lot of these folks and he gave you know it helped fuel you know some of the rise of donald trump but it also has helped fuel it Bernie Sanders and you know. And that kind of left wing of the Democratic Party i know that you talk to lots of communities and im just sort of interested in that dimension of america that thinks americas engagement with the world is not paying off very well what do you say to them. Well firstly i think youre right to raise this issue i am hearing that from people and i think you and i have both been hearing it for a number of years now i think theres a recognition what i would say very respectfully when i do speak around the country to people as youre right america cannot go it alone and america should not have to bring shoulder the burden of these responsibilities alone and thats why we have alliances when i was u. S. Ambassador to nato going into afghanistan every single they dont ally came in with us and they suffered they have suffered over a 1000 combat deaths and many many more thousands wounded theyve really paid the price with us when we didnt when we went to iraq in 2003 or fewer went in with us but many did more than 18 of the nato countries eventually went into iraq with us so hopefully were not going to be funding these big land wars hopefully we can draw down the level of American Forces continue to end iraq and afghanistan but we need to be ready and strong to defend the United States i think every american would agree on that and i think one of the central issues here and i say this to people steve is were stronger in our alliances and leading our alliances and working with our allies than trying to be unilateral us going alone and i fear that President Trump has a sunny unilateral course which pushes all the pressure on our taxpayers and i military to shoulder these burdens better to disperse it

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