風蕭蕭_Frank
以文會友
Our domestic political situation is not only one that others don't want to emulate, but I also think that it's introduced a degree of unpredictablility and a lack of reliability that's reality poisonous. For America's ability to function successfully in the world, it makes it very hard for our friends to depend on us.
對於外交政策資深人士來說，真正的危險在國內
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/01/us/politics/richard-haass-biden-trump-foreign-policy.html
理查德·哈斯 (Richard N. Haass) 表示，對全球安全最嚴重的威脅是美國。
理查德·N·哈斯 (Richard N. Haass) 表示，美國已成為全世界最嚴重的不穩定根源。 圖片來源：Karsten Moran for The New York Times
彼得·貝克 作者：彼得·貝克 2023年7月1日
彼得·貝克是白宮首席記者，他在華盛頓和紐約的辦公室采訪了理查德·哈斯。
作為外交關係委員會主席，理查德·哈斯 (Richard N. Haass) 所到之處，都會被問到同樣的問題：是什麽讓他徹夜難眠？ 多年來，他不乏選擇——俄羅斯、中國、伊朗、朝鮮、氣候變化、國際恐怖主義、糧食不安全、全球流行病。
但當哈斯先生在管理美國最著名的專注於國際事務的私人組織二十年後辭職時，他得出了一個令人不安的結論。 目前世界安全麵臨的最嚴重的威脅是什麽？ 讓他失眠的威脅？ 美國本身。
“是我們，”有一天他悲傷地說道。
直到最近，這位全球戰略家才想到這一點。 但在他看來，美國政治體係的瓦解意味著他有生以來第一次內部威脅超過了外部威脅。 哈斯表示，美國不再是動蕩世界中最可靠的支柱，而是成為不穩定的最深刻根源和不確定的民主典範。
“我們的國內政治局勢不僅是其他人不想效仿的，”他在周五在外交關係委員會的最後一天之前接受采訪時表示。 “但我也認為它帶來了一定程度的不可預測性和缺乏可靠性，這確實是有害的。 我的意思是，就美國在世界上成功運作的能力而言，我們的朋友很難依賴我們。”
哈斯先生穿著深色西裝，站在樓梯附近。
哈斯先生將辭去外交關係委員會主席職務。
國內的挑戰促使這位將整個職業生涯都當成政策製定者和世界事務研究者的人將注意力轉向國內。 哈斯先生最近出版了一本名為《義務法案：好公民的十個習慣》的書，概述了美國人可以幫助治愈自己的社會的方法，例如“了解情況”、“保持文明”、“國家優先”——所有這些 誠然，這些都是陳詞濫調，但如今卻常常難以捉摸。 除了顧問工作外，他還想在人生的下一個篇章中花大部分時間來促進公民學教學。
“我自己的軌跡已經改變了，”他在兩次采訪中總結了在該委員會的二十年經曆時說道。 “這本新書並不是我五年前或十年前就預料到會寫的，但我實際上認為它幾乎是對美國民主的重塑。 現在它已成為國家安全問題。 那是不同的。”
憑借地位和性情，71 歲的哈斯先生是建製派中信譽良好的一員，但在唐納德·J·特朗普時代，他已不再受到青睞。特朗普是兩黨“現實主義”共識的代言人，認為對於特朗普來說， 二戰以來四分之三個世紀的大部分時間裏，好壞決定了美國在世界上的地位。 當然，這是一個俱樂部世界，總是會導致精英主義群體思維甚至陰謀論的指控。 哈斯先生上周作為理事會主席最後一次露麵，他在台上和網上采訪了國務卿安東尼·布林肯，他是第 27 位出席理事會的國務卿。
“很難想象還有誰比這更努力讓這個機構成為現在這個樣子，”布林肯先生稱讚他的東道主。
“我要為此感謝他，”哈斯先生微笑著回答道。 “但我仍然會問他一些尖銳的問題。”
哈斯先生是四屆政府的資深人士，其中一位是民主黨，三屆是共和黨，但他通過定期出現在 MSNBC 的《早安喬》節目中，超越了智庫政策專家的狹隘世界，在節目中，他以謹慎但明確的措辭對政治兩極分化和過度行為表示遺憾。 近年來並試圖理解這一切。
哈斯先生（右）曾在喬治·W·布什總統領導下擔任國務院政策規劃主任。圖片來源：Stephen Crowley/《紐約時報》
大多數早晨，哈斯先生都會從紐約洛克菲勒廣場的片場出發，向北行駛約 20 個街區，前往該委員會位於上東區的總部。 他位於四樓的相對中等規模的辦公室看起來和你想象中的外交關係委員會主席雜亂的辦公室一模一樣，裏麵塞滿了數千本書、幾十個地球儀、成堆的紙張、榮譽學位。
多所大學的榮譽學位以及與家人、前任總統和同事的合影。
很難想象沒有他的理事會會怎樣。 作為這個具有百年曆史的組織曆史上任職時間最長的主席，他為保持其在天空中的地位而感到自豪，同時增加其成員並使其成員多元化，開設一個擴大的華盛頓辦事處，專注於教育並維持兩黨合作的方式，盡管不是一種包含 美國第一特朗普主義。 他的繼任者將是巴拉克·奧巴馬總統領導下的美國貿易代表邁克爾·弗羅曼。
哈斯出生於布魯克林，在長島長大，曾就讀於歐柏林學院，在那裏他製作了一部關於學生對肯特州立大學槍擊事件反應的紀錄片。 1973年畢業後，他成為羅德學者。 他在國會山為羅德島州民主黨參議員克萊本·佩爾工作，並於 1974 年在那裏結識了一位名叫喬·拜登的年輕參議員。
哈斯先生隨後在吉米·卡特總統領導下的五角大樓、羅納德·裏根總統領導下的國務院以及喬治·H·W·布什總統領導下的國家安全委員會任職。 襯套。 在喬治·W·布什 (George W. Bush) 總統領導下，他曾擔任國務院政策規劃主任，但最終因對伊拉克戰爭失望而於 2003 年離職，他後來稱伊拉克戰爭是“執行不力的糟糕選擇”。
年輕時，哈斯先生反對越南戰爭，並認為自己是自由派，但後來受到亞曆山大·索爾仁尼琴的著作、瑪格麗特·撒切爾的崛起以及裏根-布什關於美國在國外發揮領導作用、在國內實行克製政府的願景的啟發。 40多年來，他一直是共和黨人，盡管他有時也會投票支持民主黨。 但到了 2020 年，他放棄了被特朗普抓獲的政黨，並在 2021 年 1 月 6 日襲擊國會大廈後公開宣布自己不屬於黨派。
在過去的一個世紀裏，美國經曆了其他分裂和不和的時期——種族隔離、麥卡錫主義、越南、民權、水門事件。 1968 年的暗殺、騷亂和戰爭常常被認為是這個國家生活中異常悲慘的一年。 但哈斯先生認為現在的情況更糟。 “這些並不是對係統、結構的威脅，”他說。 “這就是為什麽我認為這更重要。”
哈斯同意在 2015 年與特朗普會麵，就外交事務向他提供建議，就像他對待任何總統候選人一樣，他承認自己錯誤地判斷了這位誇誇其談的房地產開發商。
“我大錯特錯的是，我認為辦公室的影響力會讓他變得溫和或正常化，無論你想用什麽詞——他會更加尊重傳統和遺產，”哈斯先生說。 “而我在這一點上錯了。 如果說有什麽不同的話，那就是他變得更加激進。 他加倍努力。”
問題是，從長遠來看，美國是否已經發生了變化。 “我應該給每一位對我說：我不知道什麽是常態、什麽是例外的非美國領導人和外國領導人，”他說。 拜登政府是否會回歸我認為理所當然的美國，而特朗普政府將成為曆史的曇花一現？ 還是拜登是個例外，而特朗普和特朗普主義才是新美國？”
哈斯先生是四屆政府的資深人士，其中一屆是民主黨，三屆是共和黨。 圖片版權：Karsten Moran，《紐約時報》
在過去半個世紀的大部分時間裏探索其他國家之後，哈斯先生準備探索自己的國家。 他暫時把自己的外交政策放在一邊，說他希望擴展書中的信息，並幫助國家重新關注《獨立宣言》所體現的核心價值觀，因為三年後該文件即將迎來 250 周年紀念日。
盡管有種種擔憂，他堅稱自己並不悲觀。 “當我四處談論這個話題時，人們知道美國的民主出了問題，”他說。 “他們知道事情正在偏離軌道。 我們可能不一定就如何解決這個問題達成一致。 但對話確實是開放的。”
彼得·貝克（Peter Baker）是白宮首席記者，曾為《泰晤士報》和《華盛頓郵報》報道過最近五任總統。 他是七本書的作者，最近與蘇珊·格拉瑟 (Susan Glasser) 合著的《分裂者：特朗普在白宮，2017-2021》。 關於彼得·貝克的更多信息
To Foreign Policy Veteran, the Real Danger Is at Home
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/01/us/politics/richard-haass-biden-trump-foreign-policy.html
Richard N. Haass says the most serious threat to global security is the United States.
Peter Baker is the chief White House correspondent and interviewed Richard Haass at offices in Washington and New York.
Everywhere he has gone as president of the Council on Foreign Relations, Richard N. Haass has been asked the same question: What keeps him up at night? He has had no shortage of options over the years — Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, climate change, international terrorism, food insecurity, the global pandemic.
But as he steps down after two decades running America’s most storied private organization focused on international affairs, Mr. Haass has come to a disturbing conclusion. The most serious danger to the security of the world right now? The threat that costs him sleep? The United States itself.
“It’s us,” he said ruefully the other day.
That was never a thought this global strategist would have entertained until recently. But in his mind, the unraveling of the American political system means that for the first time in his life the internal threat has surpassed the external threat. Instead of being the most reliable anchor in a volatile world, Mr. Haass said, the United States has become the most profound source of instability and an uncertain exemplar of democracy.
“Our domestic political situation is not only one that others don’t want to emulate,” he said in an interview ahead of his last day at the Council on Foreign Relations on Friday. “But I also think that it’s introduced a degree of unpredictability and a lack of reliability that’s really poisonous. For America’s ability to function successfully in the world, I mean, it makes it very hard for our friends to depend on us.”
Mr. Haass is stepping down as the president of the Council on Foreign Relations.
The challenges at home have prompted a man who has spent his entire career as a policymaker and student of world affairs to turn his attention inward. Mr. Haass recently published a book called “The Bill of Obligations: The Ten Habits of Good Citizens,” outlining ways Americans can help heal their own society, like “Be Informed,” “Remain Civil,” “Put Country First” — all admittedly bromides and yet somehow often elusive these days. In addition to consultant work, he wants to spend much of the next chapter of his life promoting the teaching of civics.
“My own trajectory has changed,” he observed during a pair of interviews summing up two decades at the council. “This new book is not something I would have predicted writing five or 10 years ago, but I actually think it’s almost a recasting of American democracy. Now it’s become a national security concern. And that’s different.”
By dint of position as well as temperament, Mr. Haass, 71, is a member in good standing of the establishment that has fallen into disfavor in the era of Donald J. Trump, a voice of the largely bipartisan “realist” consensus that for better or worse defined America’s place in the world for most of the three-quarters of a century since World War II. It is a clubby world, of course, one that invariably leads to charges of elitist groupthink or even conspiracy theories. For his final appearance as president of the council this past week, Mr. Haass interviewed Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken onstage and online, the 27th secretary of state to appear before the council.
“It’s hard to think of anyone who’s done more to make this institution what it is,” Mr. Blinken said, praising his host.
“I want to thank him for that,” Mr. Haass replied with a smile. “But I’m still going to ask him tough questions.”
A veteran of four administrations, one Democrat and three Republican, Mr. Haass has nonetheless transcended the insular world of think tank policy wonks through regular appearances on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” where in measured but unmistakable terms he has lamented the political polarization and excesses of recent years and tried to make sense of it all.
Mr. Haass, right, served as director of policy planning at the State Department under President George W. Bush.Credit...Stephen Crowley/The New York Times
From the set at Rockefeller Plaza in New York, Mr. Haass would head most mornings about 20 blocks north to the council’s Upper East Side headquarters. His relatively modest-sized fourth-floor office looked exactly like what you would imagine that the cluttered office of the president of the Council on Foreign Relations would look like, crammed with literally thousands of books, dozens of globes, stacks of paper, honorary degrees from various universities and photographs with family members, presidents and colleagues from past administrations.
It will be hard to imagine the council without him. The longest-serving president in the century-old organization’s history, he takes pride in preserving its place in the firmament while increasing and diversifying its membership, opening an expanded Washington office, focusing on education and maintaining a bipartisan approach, albeit not one that embraces America First Trumpism. He will be succeeded by Michael Froman, who was the U.S. trade representative under President Barack Obama.
Born in Brooklyn and raised on Long Island, Mr. Haass studied at Oberlin College, where he made a documentary on the student response to the Kent State shootings. After graduating in 1973, he became a Rhodes scholar. He worked for Senator Claiborne Pell, Democrat of Rhode Island, on Capitol Hill, where he met a young senator named Joe Biden in 1974.
Mr. Haass went on to serve in the Pentagon under President Jimmy Carter, the State Department under President Ronald Reagan and the National Security Council under President George H.W. Bush. Under President George W. Bush, he served as director of policy planning at the State Department but ultimately left in 2003, disenchanted with the Iraq war, which he later called “a poor choice poorly implemented.”
As a young man, Mr. Haass opposed the Vietnam War and thought of himself as liberal but then became inspired by the writings of Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the rise of Margaret Thatcher and the Reagan-Bush vision of American leadership abroad and restrained government at home. For more than 40 years, he was a Republican, although he sometimes voted for Democrats. But by 2020, he renounced the party that had been captured by Mr. Trump and after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and publicly declared himself unaffiliated.
Over the past century, America has experienced other periods of division and discord — Jim Crow, McCarthyism, Vietnam, civil rights, Watergate. The assassinations and riots and war of 1968 often come to mind as a singularly miserable year in the life of the nation. But Mr. Haass sees this moment as even worse. “These were not threats to the system, the fabric,” he said. “That’s why I think this is more significant.”
Mr. Haass, who agreed to meet with Mr. Trump in 2015 to advise him on foreign affairs, just as he would any presidential candidate, admitted that he misjudged the bombastic real estate developer.
“Where I was dead wrong is I assumed the weight of the office would moderate him or normalize him, whatever word you want to use — that he would be more respectful of traditions and inheritances,” Mr. Haass said. “And I was wrong on that. If anything, he became more radical. He doubled down.”
The question is whether America has changed for the long run. “I should have a nickel,” he said, “for every non-American, every foreign leader who said to me: I don’t know what’s the norm and what’s the exception anymore. Is the Biden administration a return to the America I took for granted and Trump will be a historical blip? Or is Biden the exception and Trump and Trumpism are the new America?”
Mr. Haass is a veteran of four administrations, one Democrat and three Republican.Credit...Karsten Moran for The New York Times
After exploring other countries for most of the past half-century, Mr. Haass is ready to explore his own. Putting his foreign policy hat aside for now, he said he wants to expand the message from his book and help refocus the country on the core values embodied in the Declaration of Independence as the 250th anniversary of the document approaches three years from now.
For all his worries, he insists he is not pessimistic. “When I go around speaking about this topic, people know there’s something wrong with American democracy,” he said. “They know it’s going on off the rails. And we may not necessarily agree on how to fix it. But there’s a real openness to the conversation.”
Peter Baker is the chief White House correspondent and has covered the last five presidents for The Times and The Washington Post. He is the author of seven books, most recently “The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021,” with Susan Glasser. More about Peter Baker
