Rubio on Pursuing an America First Foreign Policy

At a recent year end briefing at the State Department, Secretary of State Marco Rubio explained how American foreign policy has been recalibrated under President Donald Trump. This was necessary said, Secretary Rubio because “many of the institutions, policies, assumptions that our foreign policy was operating under were built upon a world that no longer existed.”

One of the fundamentals lost was that at its core, U.S. foreign policy must be in the national interest of the United States. This then called for defining the national interest, explained Secretary Rubio.

“We defined it as we are in favor of foreign policies that make America safer or stronger or more prosperous – hopefully all three, but at least one of those three. And then it requires you to prioritize. Even the richest, most powerful, and influential country on earth has limited resources, has limited time, and it has to be able to dedicate those resources and time through a process of prioritization.”

Then you have to have the mechanisms of foreign policy to deliver on it. That has required a reorganization at the State Department that has among other things, empowered its regional bureaus, and the people who staff them to have more influence over every element of U.S. foreign policy.

The State Department also reevaluated the role of foreign aid, said Secretary Rubio.

“Foreign aid is not a separate activity of the United States government. It is an element and a tool of our foreign policy, and it should be used for the purpose of furthering the national interest. That doesn’t mean we don’t care about human rights. That doesn’t mean we don’t care about starvation. That doesn’t mean we don’t care about hunger.”

What it does mean, said Secretary Rubio, is that “taxpayer money should be spent in furtherance of our foreign policy, should be spent in places and on things that further our foreign policy, and even that is not unlimited.”

A priority for President Trump has been to play the role of peacemaker around the world, and so the U.S. has been engaged in peace talks regarding conflicts in Russia and Ukraine, India and Pakistan, Thailand and Cambodia, Sudan, and Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The peace deal between Israel and Gaza was a milestone and remains ongoing. There is now a ceasefire. War is no longer going on at the scale and scope as before. “But obviously, there’s more work” remaining said Secretary Rubio. “We are still [in] the process of trying to implement phase one [which will] lead to phase two and phase three. That is a long-term project, some of which will extend beyond the four years of this administration.”

The United States will continue to pursue a foreign policy that first and foremost serves the national interest.