Harris Comes with a Man from the JCPOA
One of the most important aspects of Kamala Harris’s campaign in recent weeks, even after she solidified her position as the Democratic Party’s candidate in public opinion, has been her avoidance of delving into detailed policy-making and providing comprehensive explanations about her approach to various issues.
The question of where Harris’s policies and programs stand is not just a sarcastic and critical question from the Trump campaign. Numerous experts and analysts have expressed concern about this. On the other hand, a wide group of experts, particularly political campaign managers, not only do not see it as a weakness but, considering the current state of the American political landscape and the American approach to election campaigns, they regard this lack of detail in approaches and policymaking as a positive point.
Trump and the Republicans themselves are a tangible example of avoiding details and providing a precise approach and understanding of issues.
The party’s election manifesto in the 2016 and 2020 elections was very short, and in 2022 the Republicans had nothing more than two or three pages to publish for the congressional elections.
Harris’s economic speech and the presentation of her promises and special programs had both positive and negative impacts. Critics of her programs, especially her plan to combat the exploitative price increases by large companies, continue to criticize this program. The story of foreign policy is certainly different. Harris, in brief remarks during the critical situation in Gaza and the killing of Palestinians in Israeli attacks on a school, explicitly warned about this and gave hope to critics of Israel. Her expression was different, and this was no small matter.
At the Democratic Party convention, too, by preventing the speech of a representative of Palestinian supporters and calming the voices of several thousand protesters present around the convention site, the situation continued with interaction and dialogue between the two sides. Criticisms of her were increasing, and her speech at the convention was accompanied by support for Israel and support for the formation of two independent states.
In an interview with CNN, Harris continued to show support for Israel and did not display a significantly different approach from Biden’s.
If we consider the Gaza crisis and the Middle East being caught in a path that could lead to a devastating war as the main topic of U.S. foreign policy in the current situation, Harris’s program in this area is very important. Harris’s foreign policy team, whose prominent figures have been with her for a long time, will play a serious role in this.
The most important person whose name has been heard a lot in recent weeks is Philip Gordon. Gordon is one of the most important and experienced policymakers in U.S. foreign relations who has quietly played important roles in Democratic presidents’ administrations from Bill Clinton to today.
He has a background in higher education from Ohio University and Johns Hopkins, which sets him apart from the majority of major figures in U.S. foreign policy in recent decades. The heartbeat of the State Department and U.S. foreign policy teams has been in the hands of universities like Yale and Harvard. Gordon is considered one of the most European-like policymakers in U.S. foreign policy because he is very familiar with the politics of this continent, and a significant part of his service history in U.S. foreign policy has been dedicated to interaction with Europeans.
Politically and in terms of approach to domestic U.S. interactions, he should be considered one of the most liberal and independent figures among key foreign policy individuals.
In 2008, contrary to the initial wave and prevailing view that supported Hillary Clinton, he quickly joined Barack Obama’s campaign. In 2019, without regard to a big name like Biden, he was initially an unofficial advisor to Kamala Harris’s campaign and then supported Pete Buttigieg.
Buttigieg was a young, very intelligent, and knowledgeable candidate in the Democratic primaries.
He gave a detailed and historic speech on foreign policy that lasted an hour and was one of the best performances by the Democrats that year. Buttigieg certainly prepared this speech with consultation and dialogue with Gordon.
After Biden’s victory, Gordon was ultimately chosen as the National Security Advisor to the Vice President of the United States and has not separated from Harris since. Gordon was one of the active diplomats in the JCPOA negotiations, and in these weeks, Republicans, facing Harris’s candidacy, have been putting intense pressure on Gordon for the role he played in the JCPOA.
One of the historic events in the finalization process of the JCPOA in 2015 was the debate between supporters and opponents of the JCPOA, where he and his like-minded veteran diplomat Thomas Pickering debated with Mark Dubowitz and Mike Doran, two extremist figures and owners of two well-known anti-Iranian think tanks.
Despite all the controversies created in recent weeks, Gordon, along with his deputy Rebecca Lissner, will be key figures in Harris’s foreign policy. We will continue to describe and narrate Harris’s foreign policy and approach in subsequent writings.