Venezuela

To: President Trump

CC: Vice President Pence

From: Secretary of State Rachel Sousa

Date: March 29, 2018

Subject: Venezuelan Crisis

Context

Currently, Venezuela is in a political and societal crisis. The Venezuelan people are starving, inflation is at an all-time high, and a corrupt government continues to exploit its people. Protests storm the streets day after day and negotiations are unsuccessful between citizens and the government. The plight of Venezuela cannot be ignored and it is in desperate need of aid. It is in the best interest that The United States help ease the suffering of the Venezuelan people and promote democracy through humanitarian efforts.

Task

Helping Venezuela during their time of need would be a good opportunity for the U.S. to repair its relations with the Latin American community. Not only would it be beneficial to have a better relationship with Venezuela and neighboring countries, it is the moral thing to do. People are starving to death and being murdered by their own government during protests. This is a cry for help. America needs to send food, water, and supplies to Venezuelan citizens and back the protesters in their efforts for a better country.

Solution

The solution to Venezuela’s problem will not be fixed over-night and cannot be solely fixed by America, however, easing the suffering and showing support for a governmental change is needed. By sending in troops and non-governmental organizations to the country, the people can be fed, their illnesses may be treated through prescriptions they are being denied, and their efforts can be recognized by one of the most influential countries in the world. Our stance on the matter, to support the protests and help sustain the protesters, will have a ripple affect across the globe. The only refreshments the country has is Coca-Cola and bottle water. Food is scarce and agriculture is almost non-existent as they mainly import their food. Sending Americans to help farm the land could not only help feed the country but it could also help them export crops to gain some revenue. The goal is not to politically intervene with aggression and war but to use humanitarian efforts to aid the people; in that, we could further encourage progress in the government.

Evidence

Venezuela has a straight shot to Florida. This has proven to be a route for drugs to be smuggled into our country. It would be in our best interest to have Venezuela a foreign policy ally to end this drug crisis. Not only does America have an interest in ending the importation of lethal drugs into the country but we have a direct interest in protecting, preserving, and spreading democracy. Venezuela is in a pivotal place right now where the country could end in civil war, a dictatorship, or democracy. It is our responsibility to ensure the country ends in the latter. Previously, The United States has intervened in countries like Chile to replace leftist groups with rightist governments. It has not been as successful, which may deter us to remain on the sidelines during this time. However, it is now time to repair the damage that we have inflicted in this area in previous years.

Failed Solutions

As previously mentioned, the United States has had its fair share of mistakes in this area before. We put in General Pinochet into power who ended up as a dictator that exploited his people, yet we supported him. The United States supported uprising against a democratically elected president. America went against its own beliefs and ideologies that we promote constantly. We let the Chilean people down and we are not allowed to do that again to the Venezuelan people.

Implementation

Gaining support from American NGO’s to travel to Venezuela is crucial to implementing our plan. One non-governmental organization, Food Tank, works on changing the food system across the globe. They work to stop hunger and poverty and to promote healthier eating habits. They would be a perfect group to send to Venezuela to send food and possibly work on farming techniques with Venezuelans. Sending humanitarian groups to the country would give a sense of relief for their people and also not give the impression that the United States is using military intervention.

Summary

Venezuela has a crisis on their hands as their people are fighting for justice and democracy while their government has let them down. Inflation is continuing to sky-rocket, grocery store shelves remain bare, prescriptions are unavailable, and people are being murdered by their own government. The United States should intervene for a couple of reasons. The first is that Venezuela is in close enough proximity that there is a direct route to Florida. Through this route, illegal immigrants and drugs may enter the country. Based upon that fact, Venezuela is a foreign policy concern. The second reason the United States should intervene is because our country’s premise for existing is to promote democracy across the globe. Previously, the United States intervened in this area of the globe and only promoted dictatorships rather than democracy. Beginning with humanitarian efforts to alleviate the suffering and showing our support for what the protesters are doing is just the first step.

Acosta, Deborah. "Venezuela on the Brink." The New York Times. July 28, 2017. Accessed 

March 29, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/video/world/americas/100000005312007/venezuela-protest-maduro-elections.html.

Memorandum On North Korean Nuclear Aggression

Memorandum On North Korean Nuclear Aggression

To: President Trump

CC: Vice President Pence

From: Allison Cannon, Secretary of State

Date: March 20, 2018

Subject: The Nuclear Threat That is The Democratic People's Republic of North Korea

Context

            America is facing an unprecedented threat from North Korea with its development of intercontinental ballistic missiles. North Korea's blatant aggression cannot be ignored, and economic action must be taken immediately. War must be avoided at all costs and diplomacy must be the forefront of all strategic operations, but America must never compromise with North Korea.

Task

            In order to ensure long-lasting peace and prosperity not only for the American people but every nation around the globe, it is necessary to make sure that Kim Jong Un never launches a nuclear weapon. It is essential to denuclearize The Democratic People's Republic of North Korea without causing already tense relationships to be strained any further. The United States has many national security threats, so it is essential to neutralize this one as quickly as possible in order to focus on other vital issues.

Solution

            Denuclearizing the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea will not be a natural process and must be carefully thought out before any action is taken. A military response would be devastating. There is no doubt that Kim Jong Un would retaliate with all his military might if the United States attacked the country. Of course, our military is far stronger and would obliterate the enemy in a matter of days, but not before North Korea had the chance to bomb South Korea or even send a nuclear missile our way. The only step forward is economic sanctions. Diplomacy talks will lead nowhere as neither side is willing to compromise, and in our case, rightfully so. Not only should we impose sanctions on North Korea, but we should also impose severe sanctions on China as well. China is the only country with some sway over what North Korea does and therefore it should be doing everything in its power to remove the nuclear weapons. Since they are not, it is necessary to impose the sanctions to send a message that we are relentless on this subject and will take nothing less than complete denuclearization.

Evidence

            The United States has taken part in numerous arguably successful sanction policies in the past such as the ones placed on Iran. Iran, wanting to enter the global market finds commerce much more difficult when strapped with sanctions. There have been some issues with whether or not Iran has followed the rules of the Iran deal, but even so, the sanctions do have an impact on Iran's wallet. The United States had used sanctions on countries that seem to be our allies as well such as South Korea in 1975 when sanctions helped discourage South Korea from acquiring a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant. There is no guarantee that sanctions will be effective in this situation but as of now, it seems the most viable and peaceful option. 

Failed Solutions

            Military action is not the route to take. In the past, we have used military force in similar situations, and it has backfired tremendously. Specifically speaking, the war in Iraq was one of the worst mistakes in our country's history. We invaded under the assumption that there were weapons of mass destruction and eventually found nothing. Countless civilians and American soldiers were brutally murdered, and this is a situation we must not repeat. Invading North Korea would lead to possibly millions of deaths if nuclear war ensues and it is not a risk the United States should be willing to take.

Implementation

            Sanctions must immediately be placed on North Korean officials. Instead of implementing widespread sanction that would hurt the already impoverished people of North Korea and feed into North Korean propaganda, it would be much more effective to target specific individuals. The regime does not care about the state of its people so making the citizens' lives harder would accomplish nothing. Economically hurting the officials might stir them to give in to our demands or at the least be open to communications. Widespread sanctions, on the other hand, would be better suited for China. China has the ability and often the desire to keep its citizens from starving. Therefore, the burden of the sanctions will fall on the government and China will not put up with these sanctions for long until it comes to the table. We should quickly rescind the sanctions if China agrees to help to denuclearize the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Summary

            In summary, it is of the utmost importance to denuclearize North Korea. Using economic sanctions is the most peaceful way to coerce North Korea into giving up its weapons. North Korea is a far too unpredictable enemy to possess such power. Nuclear weapons could easily cause the destruction of humanity, and if we allow other nations, primarily those hostile towards the United States to gain the technology, we are that much closer to nuclear destruction. Even if the hostility is not towards the United States, atomic war affects the entire planet. No one wants to live in a world where 193 countries are all holding their breath waiting for someone else to make a wrong move.

Works Cited

"2003 Invasion of Iraq." Wikipedia. March 22, 2018. Accessed March 22, 2018.     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_invasion_of_Iraq.

Taylor, Adam. "13 times That Economic Sanctions Really Worked." The Washington Post. April   28, 2014. Accessed March 22, 2018.             https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2014/04/28/13-times-that-  economic-sanctions-really-worked/?utm_term=.81e6dece0c16.

NATO

Dan Lavigne

March 14, 2018

American Foreign Policy

Political Science

What is NATO's purpose in the 21st century?

The Second World War brought destruction to large swaths of Europe. In the wake of the rebuilding process there was a need for a collective security regime facilitated by the United States. The goal of the organization of NATO was to act as bloc against the increasing power of the Soviet Union, as they were a creeping influence in many European states mainly in Eastern and Central Europe. Additionally it was designed to stop other harmful ideologies such as fascism. The framework of NATO also provided a zero-starter for the Soviet Union especially under article V of the treaty, where an attack on one is an attack on all. Additional military forces were able to be used in a coordinated effort, through the integration process under Article III.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union there was a question of what the role of NATO should be. The organization has seen rapid expansion admitting countries in the former Eastern Bloc such as Poland, Czech Republic, and  Hungary in 1999; Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Slovenia, Latvia, Estonia,and Lithuania in 2004; and Croatia and Albania in 2009. Additionally the organization has several partnership for peace agreements, such as with Armenia and Georgia.

The role of NATO should continue to be used as a security apparatus in world affairs. It was used during the Yugoslav Wars, as well as for operations in Afghanistan. The role of this organization should be for peacekeeping missions around the world, specifically in Africa. It already has the institutional memory and is fully equipped so disbanding it would not be ideal, as it is easier to reform and adapt rather than recreate the mechanisms at later times. Additionally, this can and has been used to implement United Nations operations around the world, including the fight against global terrorism.