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FOREIGN POLICY POSITIONS
GENERAL POSITION: We believe that foreign policy should advance American interests and the well-being of the American people. We do not believe that the United States should act as though it has a special "mission" to compel others to adopt American values, principles or our way of life. We believe that course will cause us to be interventionist and involve us in conflicts that are not in America's interests.
TRADE: We believe that trade is generally a good thing; however, we feel trade principles and policies are the perogative of the American government, not an un-elected foreign trade authority, such as the WTO. We also believe that we need to be cautious in trade dealings and that we should expect the governments of our trading partners to compel the same behavior on their businesses as we compel upon ours, namely: protections of intellectual property (such as copyrights, patents and trademarks); protections of workers' rights (including the right to organize and collectively bargain); and, protections of environmental safeguards.
We believe that the counterpart to American industry finding cheaper labor overseas is American industry developing overseas markets. Americans cannot sell our goods to foreign markets where the average wage is $3 per day. We believe that multinational businesses who produce goods overseas should be required to retain and invest a portion of their profits in the countries where they produce goods so as to eliminate the "profit flight" that leaves so many of our lesser developed trading partners in dire poverty. We support initiatives that would require American trade agreements to do so.
DIPLOMACY: We believe that America should play a prominent role in the affairs of the world and that diplomacy should advance American interests. We believe that foreign service officers should be careerists and that ambassadors should be drawn from the professional corps of foreign service officers, not contributor lists. Diplomatic relations should not, necessarily, be changed with every change in the Oval Office.
FOREIGN AID: We believe that aid should be used to advance American interests and that a "carrot and stick" approach is most appropriate in dealing with nations whose behavior we hope to modify. As outlined more fully in our Defense Position, we believe that only obsolete weapons systems should be sold overseas. Foreign aid should not be used to advance positions that are contrary to American policies and principles or our positions.
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS: We support the US membership in NATO; SEATO; the OAS and the UN. We favor the seating of Japan as a permanent member of the UN Security Council. We believe that alliances, not international organizations, maintain peace and security through deterrance. Nevertheless, we recognize the importance of the UN in advancing such common human interests as human rights, development, and the eradication of diseases.
THE MIDDLE EAST: We favor the right of self-determination for all peoples but recognize that there are disputes over territory. We favor democratic government in the Middle East, but recognize that such a development must be organic and cannot be brought about solely by force of arms. We support Israel and it's right to exist, but we acknowledge that it's protection and defense are up to the Israelis because Israel is not a vital American interest, like the Panama Canal or Middle Eastern oil.
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