America's New York Yankees Foreign Policy

Watching the Yankees lose in embarrassing fashion to the Detroit Tigers last week made me realize something: Americans are a lot like Yankee fans. The Yankee fan is unique in that he thinks, starting from the day pitchers and catchers report in February, that it is destiny that the Yankees will win the World Series every single year. The only thing that could possibly stop the Bronx Bombers from laying waste to the major leagues come October is bad leadership, lack of focus, no heart, or something. Usually they’re just really angry at the world. Lost on all Yankee fans is the notion that the other teams are also full of young men who were once young boys that dreamed of playing in the major leagues and when they finally make it to the big stage, they too enjoy winning and try their hardest to do so.

When Bob Schieffer questions Obama and Romney on foreign policy tonight, expect the discussion to sound a lot like a round table of homer Yankee fans. On Iran we might see slight variation in diplomatic approaches—Romney taking a hard line, Obama more open to discussion—but the two will undoubtedly claim moral superiority, overlooking the fact that other countries have their own security concerns and domestic audiences. Likewise, Russia, America’s undisputed number one geopolitical foe for the foreseeable future, will have its concerns about the implications of a European theater ballistic missile shield disregarded (though, this issue will not be showcased). In Libya too, there is somehow an expectation that we should have known the attack on the U.S. consulate was coming ahead of time.

Like Yankee fans who often forget that other teams also have guys who can throw a slider with late break, Americans tend to forget that other countries have proud exceptional national identities and a desire to attain security. They are not necessarily evil or irrational or incorrigible. On planet earth, groups have different interests, different capabilities, and different ideas as to how politics ought to go.

Any good statesman understands the balance between standing firm when the stakes are high and backing down when accommodations are justified. What is not helpful, and what can be expected in the debate tonight, is a picture of world politics that both Romney and Obama will paint of a deeply insecure world where enemies lie everywhere, seeking to do harm to America. In response, America must NEVER back down.

Neither candidate will raise the specter of other countries’ perceptions of American power. This is more than an academic concept. Insecure states that feel deeply threatened tend to lash out when they feel cornered. They don’t always go bonkers because they’re evil or irrational. Sometimes states go nuts because they are rational and fear for their very existence.

Countries don’t usually lose like sports teams; there are no referees in an anarchic international system and no win-loss column. But there are still expectations about outcomes and like Yankee fans, Americans tend to overestimate their team’s ability to control events. America’s warm-up playlist should feature more Aretha Franklin and less Frank Sinatra.