California’s Stifled Voice on Foreign Policy

California’s technological and demographic power is unmistakable, with one notable exception: We’re underrepresented in shaping foreign policy in Congress. That is bad for us and the country because California’s Pacific perspective, born of 840 miles of coastline and a wave of immigration from across the Pacific and around the Pacific rim, is crucial. Too often, D.C. policymakers overemphasize the importance of issues in Europe and the Middle East and frequently misunderstand or underappreciate threats and opportunities in the more distant Indo-Pacific. READ MORE

Trump’s failed Latin American policy puts Florida in play in 2020

He does business here. He wants to move his permanent residence here. He even tried to bring the G-7 heads of state here. But it is also here, in Florida, where President Trump’s re-election bid faces the greatest danger.

Democrats who want to win the 2020 election would do well to focus their foreign-policy positions both on attacking Trump’s Latin American failures and building their own plans for a prosperous, peaceful and democratic future in this hemisphere.

Ignoring southern and Caribbean basin nations is both bad policy and bad politics. A geopolitically sensitive understanding of Latin America’s importance and opportunities could be key not only to strengthening U.S. foreign-policy interests and extending our values, but to winning Florida’s electoral votes. READ MORE