Romney Presents His ForeignPolicy Plan and Team of Advisers

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Romney présente programme et équipe de politique étrangère

Alors que la fine fleur de la tendance ultra-chrétienne se réunit à Washington pour écouter les candidats à l’investiture républicaine, Mitt Romney présente ce matin son programme -et son équipe- de politique étrangère. Il essaie de se placer, non pas dans l’optique des primaires, mais dans celle de la compétition contre Barack Obama.

Il a choisi la Caroline du Sud, cela dit, un Etat où les primaires sont dominées par les évangéliques (qui ont des réticences -euphémisme- par rapport aux Mormons) mais qui compte aussi beaucoup de militaires (et le discours a lieu à la Citadelle, l’académie militaire de Charleston). Aux primaires 2008, il n’était arrivé qu’en quatrième position dans l’Etat.

Les républicains vennent tout juste de cesser d’espérer en un candidat miracle. Le gouverneur du Texas Perry n’en est encore qu’à essayer de lever des fonds et se débarrasser des premières controverses (un rocher sur le camp de chasse de sa famille peint de l’inscription “Tête-de-Nègre”). Mitt Romney, lui, déploie déjà une organisation bien huilée.

Il a publié aujourd’hui une liste détaillée de ses conseillers. Dans les 22, on y retrouve beaucoup de noms connus de l’ère Bush (Michael Chertoff, l’ancien secrétaire à la sécurité nationale; Michael Hayden, l’ancien directeur de la CIA), des anciens de l’épopée irakienne, des partisans de l’Amérique “forte”, pas les néo-conservateurs ayant flirté avec la gauche (American Enterprise Institute) mais plutôt les ultras “thatchériens” de l’Heritage Fondation (D’ailleurs Danielle Pletka, de l’AEI, apparemment pas convaincue, a tout de suite publié une série pointue de questions sur le discours)

C’est le retour à l’Amérique “forte”. Mitt Romney prend le contre-pied de la tendance isolationniste du parti (pas question de “rentrer dans sa coquille” ou de déployer “le drapeau blanc”).

Contrepied aussi de la société américaine, lasse des guerres (10 ans aujourd’hui en Afghanistan). Peut-être Romney pense-t-il qu’il sera électoralement payant de redonner aux gens un sentiment d’Amérique conquérante.

Le candidat a déjà haussé le ton sur la Chine “manipulatrice” de sa monnaie, sur le Pakistan (“vous êtes avec nous ou contre nous”?) et sur l’Iran.

– “Si vous ne voulez pas que l’Amérique soit la nation la plus forte du monde, je ne suis pas votre président”, a-t-il lancé.

Et Dieu n’a pas créé l’Amérique pour être une équipe de suiveurs. L’Amérique n’est pas là pour figurer dans un quelconque directoire du monde multipolaire. Elle est là pour mener le monde, sinon quelqu’un s’autre s’en chargera.

– “God did not create this country to be a nation of followers. America is not destined to be one of several equally balanced global powers. America must lead the world, or someone else will.”

Mitt Romney entend aussi revenir sur ce qu’il a appelé les “coupes massives” dans les budgets militaires sous Barack Obama.

L’ennui, c’est que les budgets ne cessent d’augmenter (moins vite, certes). En 2011, les dépenses pour la défense sont de 739 milliards. En 2010, c’était 721 milliards, en 2008, 696 milliards; en 2007, 626; et en 2005, 506 milliards…

Ils ne seront pas trop de 22 conseillers pour les calculs….

Voir ici la liste des conseillers:

SPECIAL ADVISERS

Cofer Black

Vice President of Blackbird Technologies; Director of the CIA Counter-Terrorism Center (1999-2002); United States Department of State Coordinator for Counter-Terrorism (2002-2004)

Christopher Burnham

Vice Chairman of Deutsche Bank Asset Management; United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Management (2005-2006); United States Under Secretary of State for Management (2001-2005)

Michael Chertoff

Chairman of the Chertoff Group; United States Secretary of Homeland Security (2005-2009); Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (2003-2005)

Eliot Cohen

Director of the Strategic Studies Program at the School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University; Counselor to the United States Department of State (2007-2009); Defense Policy Advisory Board Member (2001-2009)

Norm Coleman

Chairman of the Board, American Action Network; Adviser to the Republican Jewish Coalition; United States Senator (R-MN) (2003-2009)

John Danilovich

Member of the Trilantic European Advisory Council; CEO of Millennium Challenge Corporation (2005-2009); Ambassador to Brazil (2004-2005); Ambassador to Costa Rica (2001-2004)

Paula Dobriansky

Senior Fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University; Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs (2001-2009)

Eric Edelman

Visiting Scholar at School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University; Under Secretary of Defense for Policy (2005-2009); Principal Deputy Assistant to the Vice President for National Security Affairs (2001-2003)

Michael Hayden

Principal of the Chertoff Group; Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (2006-2009); Director of the National Security Agency (1999-2005)

Kerry Healey

President, Friends of the Public-Private Partnership for Justice Reform in Afghanistan; Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts (2003-2007); Trustee, American University of Afghanistan

Kim Holmes

Vice President of Foreign and Defense Policy Studies at the Heritage Foundation; Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs (2001-2005)

Robert Joseph

Senior Scholar at the National Institute for Public Policy; Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security (2005-2007)

Robert Kagan

Syndicated Columnist; Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution in the Center on United States and Europe; Board Member of the Foreign Policy Initiative

John Lehman

Chairman and Founding Partner, J. F. Lehman & Co.; National Security Advisory Counsel for the Center for Security Policy; Secretary of the Navy (1981-1987); Member of the 9/11 Commission

Walid Phares

Professor of Global Strategies at the National Defense University in Washington; Member of the Advisory Board of the Task Force on Future Terrorism at the Department of Homeland Security (2006-2007)

Pierre Prosper

Partner at Arent Fox; United States Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues (2001-2005); Special Counsel and Policy Adviser to the Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues (1999-2001)

Mitchell Reiss

President of Washington College; Director of Policy Planning at State Department (2001-2005); Special Envoy for Northern Ireland (2005-2007)

Daniel Senor

Partner at Rosemont Capital; Coalition Provisional Authority Spokesman and Senior Advisor (2003-2004); Director and Co-Founder, Foreign Policy Initiative

Jim Talent

Distinguished Fellow at the Heritage Foundation; United States Senator (R-MO) (2002-2007)

Vin Weber

Managing Partner, Clark & Weinstock; Member of the United States House of Representatives (R-MN) (1981-1993)

Richard Williamson

Partner at Winston & Strawn; United States Ambassador to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (2004); Special Envoy to Sudan (2008-2009); Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs (1988-1989)

Dov Zakheim

Senior Advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies; Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) (2001-2004); Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Planning and Resources (1985-1987)

WORKING GROUP CHAIRS AND CO-CHAIRS

AFGHANISTAN & PAKISTAN

James Shinn, Co-Chair

Lecturer at Princeton University; Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs (2007-2008)

Ashley Tellis, Co-Chair

Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; Senior Adviser to the Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs (2003)

AFRICA

Tibor Nagy, Chair

Vice Provost for International Affairs at Texas Tech University; Ambassador to Ethiopia (1999-2002); Ambassador to Guinea (1996-1999)

ASIA-PACIFIC

Evan Feigenbaum, Co-Chair

Executive Director of the Paulson Institute; Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia (2006-2009); Member for East Asia, Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff (2001-2006)

Aaron Friedberg, Co-Chair

Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton University; Deputy Assistant for National Security Affairs and Director of Policy Planning, Office of the Vice President (2003-2005)

Kent Lucken, Co-Chair

Managing Director at Citigroup Private Bank in Boston; Former U.S. Foreign Service Officer; President of the US-Asia Institute

COUNTER-PROLIFERATION

Eric Edelman, Co-Chair

Visiting Scholar at School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University; Under Secretary of Defense for Policy (2005-2009); Principal Deputy Assistant to the Vice President for National Security Affairs (2001-2003)

Robert Joseph, Co-Chair

Senior Scholar at the National Institute for Public Policy; Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security (2005-2007)

Stephen Rademaker, Co-Chair

Principal at Podesta Group; Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation (2002-2006); Policy Director for National Security Affairs and Senior Counsel to Senator Bill Frist (2006-2007)

COUNTERTERRORISM & INTELLIGENCE

Michael Chertoff, Co-Chair

Chairman of the Chertoff Group; Secretary of Homeland Security (2005-2009); Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (2003-2005)

Michael Hayden, Co-Chair

Principal of the Chertoff Group; Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (2006-2009); Director of the National Security Agency (1999-2005)

DEFENSE

John Lehman, Co-Chair

Chairman and Founding Partner, J.F. Lehman & Co.; National Security Advisory Council for the Center for Security Policy; Secretary of the Navy (1981-1987); Member of the 9/11 Commission

Roger Zakheim, Co-Chair

Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (2008-2009)

EUROPE

Nile Gardiner, Co-Chair

Director of the Heritage Foundation’s Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom; Foreign Policy Researcher for British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (2000-2002)

Kristen Silverberg, Co-Chair

Chief Operating Officer at Vorbeck Materials; Ambassador to the European Union (2008-2009); Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs (2005-2008)

HUMAN RIGHTS

Pierre Prosper, Chair

Partner at Arent Fox; United States Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues (2001-2005); Special Counsel and Policy Adviser to the Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues (1999-2001)

INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE

Grant Aldonas, Co-Chair

Senior Adviser at Center for Strategic and International Studies; Under Secretary for International Trade at the Commerce Department (2001-2005); Member of the Board of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (2001-2005)

Daniel Runde, Co-Chair

Director of Prosperity and Development at Center for Strategic and International Studies; Former Director of the Office of Global Development Alliances at USAID (2005-2007); Head of Philanthropy Relations at the International Finance Corporation (2007-2010)

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

Christopher Burnham, Co-Chair

Vice Chairman Deutsche Bank Asset Management; United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Management (2005-2006); United States Under Secretary of State for Management (2001-2005)

Paula Dobriansky, Co-Chair

Senior Fellow at the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government; Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs (2001-2009)

Robert O’Brien, Co-Chair

Partner at Arent Fox; US Alternate Representative to the 60th session of the United Nations General Assembly (2005-2006); Former legal officer with the United Nations Security Council (Compensation Commission) (2006-2008)

LATIN AMERICA

Clifford Sobel, Co-Chair

Ambassador to Brazil (2006-2009); Ambassador to the Netherlands (2001-2005); Member United States Holocaust Memorial Council (1994-1998)

Ray Walser, Co-Chair

Senior Policy Analyst at the Heritage Foundation; Director of the Foreign Service Institute’s Western Hemisphere Area Studies program (2005-2007); 27-year Foreign Service Officer

MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA

Mary Beth Long, Co-Chair

Senior Vice President at Neural IQ Government Services; Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs (2007-2009)

Meghan O’Sullivan, Co-Chair

Lecturer at Kennedy School of Government; Special Assistant to President George W. Bush and Deputy National Security Advisor for Iraq and Afghanistan (2004-2007)

Walid Phares, Co-Chair

Professor of Global Strategies at the National Defense University in Washington; Member of the Advisory Board of the Task Force on Future Terrorism at the Department of Homeland Security (2006-2007)

RUSSIA

Leon Aron, Co-Chair

Resident Scholar and Director of Russian Studies at the American Enterprise Institute; Author of Yeltsin: A Revolutionary Life and other noted works; Contributed to The New Russian Foreign Policy

William Martel, Co-Chair

Associate Professor of International Security Studies at the Fletcher School, Tufts University