- Thursday, October 13, 2016
- 12:00 PM–1:00 PM
- Chapel
How should we think about foreign policy issues in the context of the upcoming 2016 election?
Foreign Policy
Thursday, October 13, 2016
Noon
Calvin College Chapel
What role should the United States play in the world today: a benign authority figure in an increasingly unpredictable world; a leader and partner alongside other states in multilateral institutions; or merely an observer avoiding entanglement in other states' problems? Should U.S. military forces remain stationed throughout the globe or be withdrawn and the burden shifted to other states? Should U.S. foreign policy remain focused on the Middle East, should the policy focus "pivot to Asia," or should the United States tend more to its own problems at home? Should the U.S. continue to pursue trade liberalization or reject additional trade agreements and try to "level the playing field" for U.S. companies and workers?
Although foreign policy issues have been unusually prominent in this year's election campaign, voters generally have a much less clear understanding of the foreign policy field than they do of issues that affect them more directly. In close political races, foreign policy tends to be a more considered factor, but decisions made in addressing foreign affairs can have long-term economic and social consequences. How, then, should we think about such issues in the context of the upcoming election?
Featuring: Todd Huizinga (Henry Institute Senior Research Fellow), Becca McBride (Calvin Political Science Professor) and Joel Westra (Calvin Political Science Professor).
