Earlier this semester, I wrote an article asserting Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein ought to debate Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. My basis for this was that the public should have the ability to hear as many political perspectives as possible, especially given the flaws of this year’s two major party candidates. While I stand by this claim, recent events have called into question the worthiness of both campaigns, particularly Johnson’s. Their dearth of knowledge regarding foreign affairs singlehandedly disqualifies them from the presidency.
Johnson has suffered two major gaffes this month. First, he failed to identify what Aleppo is, which is one of the most besieged cities in the gruesome Syrian Civil War, home to about 250,000 citizens and 100,000 children. They are living in hell every single day. Then, he failed to identify a single foreign head of state when asked who his favorite foreign leader was. Of our many international allies, Justin Trudeau, Angela Merkel and Benjamin Netanyahu come to mind quickly. But to Johnson, this was just another “Aleppo moment.”
Prior to his failure to identify a foreign head of state, he criticized the media for dwelling on his gaffe instead of focusing on the shortcoming of America’s interventionist foreign policy. Johnson’s devout non-interventionist ideology attracts many followers who do not see the benefits of America’s enormous military commitments throughout the Middle East. This is a reasonable frustration felt by many Americans, and perhaps Johnson’s ignorance on the Middle East underscores his unwillingness to extend these commitments further. Likewise, his inability to identify foreign heads of state perhaps underscores that being further engaged in external affairs is not a priority. Instead, if he were asked about civil liberties or efficient use of tax dollars, we could expect Johnson to give a more nuanced, more acceptable answer.
Yet, what he and his supporters fail to recognize is that understanding the complexities of U.S. foreign policy and the international system more generally is an indispensable part of working in the Oval Office. Certainly, each president has a robust team of foreign policy advisors at his beck and call. However, how can we expect to achieve our goals in Syria if our president fails to understand the most basic realities of the conflict? Likewise, how can we expect our president to work with our allies to fight Islamic extremism, address climate change and check Russia’s aggression if he does not even know who to call? These are extraordinarily challenging issues that policymakers will continue to grapple with for quite some time. We cannot afford to elect a president whose ignorance would only complicate matters further, especially given that the international community depends on the United States to lead the charge.
Perhaps most importantly, the president of the United States is responsible for commanding our armed forces. Given this extraordinarily responsibility, Americans should essentially trust their president with their lives. I am not suggesting Johnson is an untrustworthy person because, as I noted last week, it is the untrustworthiness of Clinton and Trump that should afford him the opportunity to debate. However, as a 21-year-old male who is registered for the selective service, I am quite hesitant to put my life in the hands of someone who has less knowledge of external affairs than your average University student might have. While he does of course have a strong non-interventionist ideology, a nation with as much military might as ours must be ready to act in an instant. He has not proven himself capable of executing this challenge effectively.
Given the president’s enormous international responsibilities, we should expect him or her to have the most knowledge of international relations of anyone in the country. Gary Johnson has demonstrated that he lacks this essential qualification, and is consequently unfit to be our next commander-in-chief.
Jesse Berman is an Opinion columnist for The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at j.berman@cavalierdaily.com.
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