America Must Remember Who Its Friends – and Enemies – Are

We live in a time of grave moral confusion on both the Right and the Left – an attribute on full display in the calls to reevaluate the value of longtime alliances and cast a more favorable eye toward longtime adversaries.

On the Left, progressives who spent the last two years slandering Israel have raised nary a peep on behalf of the scores of protesters currently being mowed down by the Iranian regime. And on the Right, prominent political leaders and influential media figures are embracing the notion that we should favor Russia over Ukraine and our European allies and even turn our backs on our most valuable ally in the Middle East: Israel.

As a former Secretary of State, I know how important it is to have a clear-eyed, unsentimental understanding of American interests and which relationships best serve those interests. Nothing is static in life or in geopolitics, and international relations require an ongoing assessment of which relationships need nurturing; which are headed in the wrong direction; which are unsavory but necessary. But in order to protect America’s unique position in the world, one must also understand which relationships have stood the test of time and have the very strongest foundations – and which states are fundamentally at odds with American values and interests.

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The failure to appreciate these distinctions never ends well. The Obama Administration made one of the worst errors in American foreign policy when it refused to recognize the Islamic Republic for what it was: an implacable enemy of the United States. Instead of understanding the fundamental incompatibility of the interests of that anti-American, terrorist sponsoring regime and the United States, President Obama and his advisors convinced themselves that they could appease their way into a better relationship with Iran – and got completely rolled.

It’s not just the Left that has this problem. The voices on the Right making excuses for Vladimir Putin and calling on Ukraine to all but surrender to this imperialist aggressor are being taken for fools by Putin. They minimize or remain silent about the terrible reality of life under Putin’s mafia state but loudly insult our European allies about their own problems and shortcomings. And what have they achieved for their troubles? Certainly not peace: They’ve emboldened Putin and prolonged a war that undermines European security and our capacity to tackle shared challenges from China and elsewhere.

Don’t get me wrong – American allies in Europe and elsewhere have real problems that are worth speaking out about. For example, the outrageous assault on free speech in the United Kingdom is a real concern, and one I very much hope will be addressed by Parliament. But the idea that this somehow negates our deep historical ties and enduring shared interests and values is absurd and self-defeating.

Likewise, I fully agree with the critics who say that fellow NATO member states need to ramp up military spending. And unlike many of these armchair critics, I put my money where my mouth is and initiated the process of pushing NATO allies to take greater responsibility for their own security. But efforts to diminish or dismiss the value of this alliance ignore the incredible value it has had both for maintaining Europe’s collective security and, in so doing, protecting core American interests. And don’t forget: Article 5 has been invoked just once in the history of the alliance, and that was by America in response to the September 11 attacks. Dismissing that isn’t just ignorant – it’s disgraceful.

Finally, the rising anti-Israel (and antisemitic) sentiments among powerful Right-wing media figures are perhaps the starkest example of this moral confusion. According to Tucker Carlson, authoritarian adversaries like Russia and Venezuela would make better allies than Israel because they have valuable natural resources, whereas our partnership with Israel is apparently one in which America spends “trillions of dollars spent prosecuting wars on Israel’s behalf.”

Yet America and Israel are natural allies with deep shared interests – and the benefits that have accrued to the U.S. over time have been extraordinary. Located in the heart of a highly dysfunctional, violent, yet strategically critical region, Israel has acted as a critical outpost of democratic values. Israel has literally fought on the front lines against one of the greatest foes of Western civilization: Iran and its network of terrorist proxies. Together, we destroyed Iran’s nuclear program, removing a key means of exerting international leverage. And as a result, we may soon see the collapse of the world’s most anti-American regime – and number one state sponsor of terrorism – as a result. And we should never forget the shared foundational Judeo-Christian values and providential natures of both our countries.

Our adversaries understand the value of our alliances, even if we do not. It’s why they invest significant resources in attempting to undermine and disrupt those relationships, including by throwing money at many of the influencers currently retailing pro-authoritarian propaganda. They would love nothing more than to drive a permanent wedge between America and Japan, or India, or Europe, to destroy our ability to unite in pursuit of our shared interests, and to make sure that, if and when a new global war were to break out, the alliances that have served us so well would no longer stand as a bulwark against aggression.

Scripture tells us, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.” (Proverbs 27:6) It’s a warning as relevant to international statecraft as it is to our individual lives; may our leaders always heed it.