The International Coconut Order

Unburdened By What Has Been

Look okay sure, I guess I have to write at least something about this. We’ve finally broken with our reign of septuagenarian Presidents, and Kamala Harris will be the Democratic nominee for 2024.

Now, I’ll put aside here that I’m a DNC regime loyalist, and I would have supported anyone on the Democratic ticket, I think there’s room to talk about what it means for American policy now that we’ve made this shift.

It’s not that I think Biden was a particularly bad President.

His foreign policy moved us in the right direction on most accounts—although I have been deeply critical of his policies regarding the war between Israel and Hamas—a prospective Kamala Presidency would likely entrench American support to Ukraine and our allies in the Pacific.

Kamala has quietly been deeply involved in both of these more high-profile foreign policy initiatives from the Biden Administration, attending the June summit with Ukraine, alongside engaging Taiwan and the Philippines on security issues.

Her National Security Advisor, Philip Gordon, tends more to the hawkish end of the spectrum and is an advocate of an active American role in the world. He is on record as being critical of the Obama Administration’s lack of involvement in the Syrian Conflict.

While it’s hard to judge what her eventual cabinet would look like, and what a President does in office is subject to change, there’s little evidence from the past 4 years that says she would step back from American commitments in Ukraine or Asia.

The GOP has fully bought into its most isolationist tendencies in a moment of profound consequence for how America uses its power. If we fail to defeat Russia in Ukraine, we will be faced with a resurgent and vengeful adversary for the foreseeable future. Ukrainians will be subject to brutal and autocratic rule by an invading force that sees them as barely human—and American credibility will only be further harmed.

Trump has hardly given any confidence in his willingness to defend Taiwan either, and his surrogates have started to intellectualize why the United States should not fight to defend Taipei’s independence.

The GOP choice for VP in J.D. Vance represents the strongest evidence of their commitment to isolationism with Vance notably stating that he “doesn’t care” what happens to Ukraine when asked about the war. Vance has also denigrated Zelenskyy by insinuating—with no evidence—that Zelenskyy was a corrupt oligarch who was stealing American aid.

It is in short a GOP that stands for nothing on the international stage. We need to be able to vigorously advocate for why American involvement in foreign affairs matters. We need to win in 2024, and putting a candidate on the ticket who gives us the chance to do so impacts the lives of millions of people who just want to live in peace.

Being able to put together a younger ticket isn’t just a matter of being able to have a candidate on the trail who can more easily get the Democratic message across—although that helps—it’s a matter of bringing new people into American policymaking.

Older candidates with their decades-old advisors mean that the same people essentially occupy the same positions for their entire adult lives. Brett McGurk for instance has had the staying power in D.C. that would make Cain jealous. Through his various positions in the Middle East, he has lurched from one poor policy to another, while effectively boxing out alternative views on American policy.

At an institutional level, having leadership that’s younger and willing to bring in new professionals means we can develop newer and more flexible policies. I’ve been lucky enough to meet quite a few of my peers in my age group—and I can assure you they’re all extremely thoughtful and capable professionals. They care deeply about the United States and our place in the world.

There needs to be a new generation of diplomats to ensure our initiatives in the Pacific like the QUAD, AUKUS, and IPEF can live up to their potential. We can welcome new national security thinkers who can build NATO into a force that can support Ukraine and keep Russia from threatening Europe again. CENTCOM at the bare minimum could use someone under the age of 50.

They—like me—want to see Ukraine win their war with Russia. They want the Indo-Pacific to be safe and secure. They want to live to see a Middle East that is no longer subject to bloodletting and militia politics.

Kamala and a younger Democratic Party gives us a chance to finally start solving the problems of the last generation.