- Democratic Representative Ro Khanna is one of the most influential voices in foreign policy in Congress.
- Khanna spoke to Insider about Biden’s foreign policy so far and the direction of the US post-Trump.
- Khanna said Biden had a ‘good start’ on the world stage.
- Visit the Insider Business Department for more stories.
Democratic Representative Ro Khanna of California emerged during the Trump era as one of the most prominent and progressive voices in Congress on foreign affairs, a role he plans to build as President Joe Biden attempts to break America’s restore credibility with allies and challenge courageous opponents. .
Khanna played a key role in putting US involvement in the Yemeni conflict on the radar of Congress, in collaboration with Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and his efforts paid off early in Biden’s government.
Biden recently put an end to US support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, where a devastating war fueled the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
The California Democrat is also outspoken about Iran. Amid fears that then-President Donald Trump was about to incite a war with Tehran, Khanna led the charge to block Pentagon funding for any military action against Iran without congressional approval.
A month after his presidency, Biden had already taken a drastically different approach to foreign affairs. After four years of threats and one-sided policies under Trump, Biden sought to assure allies that diplomacy would be the name of the game.
Hours after being inaugurated, Biden rejoined the Paris Climate Agreement and the World Health Organization. He also ended Trump’s controversial, divisive travel ban that has affected Muslim countries in particular.
That said, Biden still faces major challenges internationally without clear solutions, from the struggle to restore the Iran nuclear deal to the growing growth of China’s global influence.
And with America’s international position following the Capitol attack in January, Biden’s own secretary of state conceded that the ability of the US government to fight democracy had weakened. Biden’s career has been defined in many ways by his involvement in foreign policy-making, but he may find that the old way of doing things just doesn’t work anymore.
Khanna joined Insider for a question and answer on Biden’s foreign policy so far and US policy toward Trump.
Editor’s Note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
INSIDER: What are your biggest foreign policy concerns and what is on your wish list as the new government begins to establish?
Khanna: The first thing we need to focus on is ending the war in Yemen. The administration has taken constructive steps by announcing that we will not be involved in any offensive Saudi bombing or strike in Yemen. But there is more that needs to be done.
We must be very clear that there must be no interference between any forces in Yemen. The civil war in Yemen was going on before the Saudis intervened, and so Saudi Arabia and the UAE must stop providing money. Iran must stop providing or interfering with money.
The facts on the ground have not changed. The bombing continues. The threat of famine is still there.
It is a great achievement that we are no longer complicit. But our complicity over the past five years makes us responsible for trying to really find peace there, and not just wash our hands of it. And so that’s a big part of it.
We need a well-thought-out strategy on China, which is not just a new Cold War paradigm that fuels anti-Asian xenophobia. We need to be tough on certain economic issues, but we also need to realize that this will require cooperation on climate change and pandemics. How we find the balance and how we can still lead critical technologies – that’s going to be very important.
Q: How satisfied are you as a progressive so far with Biden?
Khanna: This is a good start.
The reversal of many of the worst Trump policies is welcome – to rejoin the Paris Agreement, to stop our complicity in the Yemeni war, to make sure we do not have a Muslim ban, and must review all the sanctions and that commitment to return to the [Iran nuclear deal].
But we must now see how the next year goes.
Q: Biden has proposed holding a summit for democracy, but after the Capitol attack and Trump’s acquittal, does the US even have the right to present it?
Khanna: Yes, we are still an extraordinary, liberal democracy.
When you get to the first edit, you need to protect your speech. If you come to the recognition of equal rights, pluralism. We are going to be the first major minority nation in the world.
Do we have challenges? Absolutely. We have challenges. We have had a historic challenge with the original sin of racism. We had a historic challenge with the extermination of Native Americans, and we excluded the Latino community and women.
But every nation faces challenges, and we have strong liberal, democratic institutions that have stood the test of time and that we believe can help us become a multiracial democracy.
Question: What’s next for the US-Saudi relationship, following Biden’s massive decision to end the US-led coalition in Yemen?
Khanna: There must be a cessation of funding over Yemen and the blockade must be lifted. There must be accountability for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. They are in a very precarious position. The Hill wants to re-examine the relationship, Biden wants to reconsider the relationship.
Its strategic value is not so high with our relative energy independence, and that is our pursuit of renewable energy.
There will be a great expectation that they will reform.
Q: The US first abandoned the 2015 Iran Nuclear Power Agreement (JCPOA), but the Biden government says Iran must now take the first step by stopping uranium enrichment. What is the risk that it might fall back in a spectacular way?
Khanna: I believe there were 102 kilograms [enriched] uranium when Trump took office is now there 2.5 tons of uranium. And if we do nothing, Iran will benefit from the standard situation.
The maximum pressure campaign did not work, and I see no harm in saying, “OK, we are going to get into the JCPOA again. We are going to suspend the sanctions. And if Iran cheats, we are going to click them right again.”
What damage is there? While we continue to play a game of chicken meat, the risk is that Iran will become nuclear in the next few years instead of by 2030 – this is what the JCPOA is trying to push out.
Q: Would you support the Biden government to follow a path where the US and Iran are once again complying with the agreement?
Khanna: It strikes me as a reasonable way forward.
Q: Do you think the US has relied too heavily on sanctions to affect foreign crises, such as the recent coup in Myanmar?
Khanna: Sanctions can be an important tool in the U.S. toolkit for foreign policy to hold repressive regimes responsible for human rights violations without the use of military force.
However, it must be carefully designed to target the offending parties rather than hurting the civilians living in the country, who often support the US, and who are not guilty of the policies of their regime. We have seen time and time again that civilians bear the brunt of destructive and indiscriminate broad economic sanctions.
It is welcome news that the Biden government is reviewing the effects of US sanctions.
Q: Are you concerned that many of Biden’s early foreign policies are designed to divert GOP criticism, such as not returning to the JCPOA faster or not immediately scraping Trump-era tariffs on China?
Khanna: We need to give them at least six months to make progress.
A new president deserves a chance to succeed. He deserves a chance to have his policy implemented.
Now, in six months or a year, if things have not moved in a positive direction, you will make people talk.
But there is certainly a feeling among progressives that our new president deserves a chance to succeed and has taken some constructive steps.
Q: The relationship between the US and Turkey seems to be in deep trouble. How can the US reverse the growing divide?
Khanna: They have always been an important ally. We want to maintain that alliance, but it must be based on human rights. We can not abandon the relationship with Turkey. We have nuclear weapons there.
Q: Is there an issue that deserves attention in terms of foreign policy?
Khanna: We need to think in a bigger picture of a multiracial America that we are becoming.
To move towards a foreign policy that focuses on human rights and that recognizes the dignity and aspirations of people around the world. It moves away from a foreign policy based on mere balance of power, conquest, or acquisition, and moves toward what I believe is the true American ideal: a foreign policy that supports freedom, that supports the dystrophy of tyranny. , which was actually on the side of de-colonization.