US Policy And Government

Running Head: U.S POLICY AND GOVERNMENT

U.S policy and government

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U.S POLICY AND GOVERNMENT

There has been more caution on security and increased investment in sophisticated

security hardware and measures against threats and risk especially after 9/11 attacks on the US

soil. The U.S. has since then shifted its attention to policy on an interagency alignment of various

security organizations. Despite the security measures in place, the country has suffered attacks

from homegrown terrorists (SGI-Network, 2017). It has also witnessed growing violence

including homicides and mass shootings which have led to mass casualties. Additionally, there

have been several hacking attacks allegedly perpetrated by Russian hackers targeting politicians

and political organizations. These attacks reflect the dire state of the security in the security

despite the government's efforts to adopt security tactics that can enhance the security of the

citizens.

Description of events

Since taking up the presidency, Trump has made several changes which have exacerbated

some of the military issues identified. Despite Defense Secretary, Jim Mattis, asking Trump to

hold up the Iran nuclear agreement, the president disavowed it (Thomas Giboons-Neff, 2017).

Instead of considering the stakes involved in this decision, Trump dismissed the agreement and

considered it to be defective. The president opposed Tillerson's plan to use three channels open

to North Korea to defuse the situation (Rubin, 2017). This was considered to be the best plan for

preventing flare-up between North Korea and the U.S. The president opposed the plan terming

them as being useless. He considered a preemptive military solution to the best strategy for

eliminating the nuclear threat. However, this could have severe ramifications for South East

Asian countries that support the U.S.

President Trump reversed the previous government's decision to reduce the number of

troops in the Middle East. His decision to send more troop contingents to Afghanistan added war

U.S POLICY AND GOVERNMENT

costs incurred by the country in the fight against Islamists (Mufson, 2017). This decision is a

reversal of the policy implemented by Obama aimed at making Afghanistan armed forces less

reliant on foreign military support. President Trump has also failed at curtailing Russian

expansionism. This created a conflict between the Congress and President Trump with the

former seeking to increase sanctions while the latter wanted to reduce the sanctions (Matt

Zapotosky, 2017). Lack of resolution between both parties resulted in a stalemate which severed

efforts to pressure Russia to stop its illegal activities.

Analysis

Part of the new military-related events observed requires a more analysis in the report

commentary. The commentary omitted most of the recent events for the last quarter of 2017

making the report lacks good insight into the military issues on the entire stakeholders. This will

be remedied by adding several statements in the report.

First focus on the statement focusing on North Korea's nuclear threat should be extended

to include Trump's decision to disavow Iran nuclear deal with limitations on future engagements.

It is important to note that before the deal was implemented, the U.S. considered the Iran nuclear

program to be a threat to its national security (Gladstone, 2017). This case applies to North

Korea's nuclear program. Given that the president's decision to reject the deal could elevate this

threat, a statement on this decision should be included to highlight the extent of the threat that the

country has to grapple with.

The commentary highlights North Korea's nuclear program as one main issue

undermining the U.S. foreign policy, however, it is silent on Trump's possible options at hand to

act on. In reaction to Trump's outbursts, North Korea has accelerated its nuclear weapons

U.S POLICY AND GOVERNMENT

program and has developed several medium-range missiles that can deliver nuclear warheads

(Johnson, 2017). North Koreas nuclear program is growing tremendously notwithstanding the

sanctions and pressure, posing much danger and threat to the US. Trump's decisions on this

program confirm the commentary's position about his erratic and uninformed decisions which

expose the U.S. to more threats. However, it would be imperative to include a statement

describing implications of his decision on the country as it would enhance the accuracy of the

commentary.

Trump's policy to secure States has seen increased military activities in part of the Middle

East and Afghanistan with priority being on; strategy strengthened, terms of engagement as well

as better equipment. The commentary reports highlight the government's decisions to scale back

military operations in the Middle East. This is a shift from Obama administration where there

where military cuts on expenditure and reduction in a number of boots on the ground with the

deployment of about an additional 3000 troops in Afghanistan. This decision as such has inflated

the military budget and eaten into other state key department appropriations. Notably, Trump has

promised to maintain the troops in Afghanistan for an unspecified time which implies that the

costs may increase over time (Julie Hirschfeld Davis, 2017). Including this statement in the

commentary could be imperative in enhancing the accuracy of the report and providing more

information to the U.S. readers about the extent of their country's military involvement in foreign

countries.

Trump has been combative and confrontational over implementations of new sanctions

against Russia. Part of his approach is leniency while the Congress sees Russia as non-ally and

enemy from the cold war era. Various intelligence investigation has in the past mentioned

Russia's adversely in interference with the previous elections which saw trump elected.

U.S POLICY AND GOVERNMENT

However, it does not focus on the conflict between the two primary stakeholders which has

prevented implementation of new sanctions aimed at curtailing Russia's activities (The

Economist, 2017). It is essential for the report to include the statement on this conflict including

the attitudes of both the Congress and president Trump on the sanctions which can be vital in

giving readers a clear overview of the challenges faced by the government.

Recommendations

Given the kind of complexity of governance that depicts the structure and decision

making structure of the 50 states making up the United States policy formulation has to be

improved. The tussle between Congress and the White House bureaucrats has to be relooked in

terms of decision that impacts arms trade and defense. Congressional committee system should

be relooked as it’s the major barrier to the reorganization of the executive branch that helps

congress with objectivity evaluation on strategic policies affecting defense. Key note also will

involve giving more credence to competence in groups such Environmental Defense Fund and

American conservative union.

The case of executive privilege in the limits of obtaining documents for congressional use

is designed to help protect the excess leakage of sensitive information, however the same has

been abused over time by power hungry technocrats with attachments to the white house making

congress a lame duck leading to constant confrontation. Such limits should be reviewed in order

to limit power tussles between congress and white house as witnessed in the case of sanctions

against Russia on meddling in other countries such as Ukraine.

The commentary on ministerial compliance points glaring inconsistencies in terms of

duality of roles, presidential control, monitoring inconsistencies and conflicts between

U.S POLICY AND GOVERNMENT

departments and agencies. There is risk of administrative control failure in programs that are of

less interest in terms of presidential policy and may in turn be taken over by congress on policy

matters. Some of administrative lapses witnessed such as in the 2015 case of exposure of NSA

violation of legal terms on surveillance on tapping of German chancellor phone calls. Thus there

should be more concern on the autonomy and clear defined degree of control presidency and

congressional authority.

The SGI report 2017 points out on the importance of institutional structures and political

traditions in international coordination but doesn’t clearly spells out any proper action plan. The

congress and White House are constantly in conflict and divided in terms of policy direction.

Such as case is the Obama administration strategy on Middle East and Israel in particular. Lack

of consensus hampers any implementation however good a policy is. There is lack of consensus

due to party affiliation and allegiance to big cartels that benefit from the inefficiencies. The

political traditions and leadership should be given more powers in such cases.

In line with the developments in the world where military confrontation and rhetoric has

shaped the landscape of global engagement with threats and resurgence of terrorism on the

global scale, the score on safe living should be reviewed. Nuclear threats and stalemate over

Russia sanctions have elevated security risks. In the past few months, North Korea has deployed

missiles which could hit US military bases in foreign countries as well as countries allied with

the U.S. As such, the U.S is at a higher risk of being hit by nuclear missiles today than it was in

the previous year. Also, the conflict between President Trump and the congress reflects Russia's

deep involvement within the country poses elevated security risks. Therefore, the score on safe

living should be reduced to indicate the high-security risks faced by the country.

U.S POLICY AND GOVERNMENT

References

Gladstone, R. (2017, October 5). What Is the Iran Nuclear Deal? And Why Does Trump Hate It?

Retrieved from The New York Times:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/05/world/middleeast/iran-nuclear-deal.html

Johnson, J. (2017, October 7). Trump on North Korea: ‘Sorry, but only one thing will work!'.

Retrieved from The Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-

politics/wp/2017/10/07/trump-on-north-korea-sorry-but-only-one-thing-will-

work/?utm_term=.d1c88ce1e601

Julie Hirschfeld Davis, M. L. (2017, August 21). Trump Outlines New Afghanistan War Strategy

With Few Details. Retrieved from The New York Times:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/21/world/asia/afghanistan-troops-trump.html

Matt Zapotosky, K. D. (2017, October 27). Trump administration reveals the new list of potential

Russia sanctions. Retrieved from Washington Post:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-administration-reveals-

new-list-of-potential-russia-sanctions/2017/10/27/8f3e879a-bb3e-11e7-be94-

fabb0f1e9ffb_story.html?utm_term=.2341ed8fe088

Mufson, S. (2017, August 24). Trump Afghanistan troop increase adds to $1 trillion in war costs;

the government will be paying for war veterans health care for another 50 years.

Retrieved from Washington Post:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/21/world/asia/afghanistan-troops-trump.html

Rubin, J. (2017, August 30). The administration's incoherence on North Korea intensifies.

Retrieved from The Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-

U.S POLICY AND GOVERNMENT

turn/wp/2017/08/30/the-administrations-incoherence-on-north-korea-

intensifies/?utm_term=.42e7e840528f

SGI-Network. (2017). 2017 USA Country Report | SGI Sustainable Governance Indicators.

Retrieved from SGI-Network: https://www.sgi-

network.org/docs/2017/country/SGI2017_USA.pdf

The Economist. (2017, July 27). Congress does not trust the president. Retrieved from The

Economist: https://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21725603-vote-republicans-

bind-hands-president-their-own-party

Thomas Giboons-Neff, D. E. (2017, October 3). Mattis Contradicts Trump on Iran Deal Ahead

of Crucial Deadline. Retrieved from The New York Times:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/03/world/middleeast/mattis-Iran-deal-trump.html

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