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Marianne Williamson on Foreign Policy
Author & Democratic Presidential Challenger
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Stronger position on Saudi Arabia; end involvement in Yemen
The United States needs to take a much stronger position with regard to Saudi Arabia. We must stop US involvement in the war in Yemen.
We should reject all arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the UAE. We should press for an independent criminal investigation into the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi including any role that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman may have played.
Source: Council on Foreign Relations on 2020 presidential primary
, Aug 16, 2019
Help Venezuela freely choose its own political future
If the US really wants to see a peaceful political transition in Venezuela it needs to help create the conditions for effective dialogue, which means supporting moderate factions on both sides that seek a peaceful transition and supporting
existing efforts to promote dialogue. The best policy in Venezuela and most places is to support efforts that allow the country's citizens to decide on their political future (even if it's not exactly the sort of future that the US favors).
Source: Council on Foreign Relations on 2020 presidential primary
, Aug 16, 2019
US should be more involved in opportunities in Africa
A growing Africa means opportunities we should not ignore. Angola has a president who is reversing decades of corruption. Algeria and Sudan are seeking peaceful transitions of power, and
South Africa is struggling to re-establish economic growth and build opportunity for its people. In each case the United States could have been involved in these positive developments but was not.
Source: Council on Foreign Relations on 2020 presidential primary
, Aug 16, 2019
2007: Let Iranian president visit Ground Zero
In 2007, when Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad traveled to New York City to speak to the United Nations, Williamson wrote, "When he said he wanted to go to Ground Zero and pay his respects, I think we should have let him.
He didn't perpetrate the horrors of 9/11, any more than Saddam Hussein did! What's going on here?"
Source: National Review magazine, articles on 2020 candidates
, Jul 1, 2019
Commitment to both Israeli security & Palestinian rights
Q: Do you think Israel meets international standards of human rights? A: "As President of the United States, I would have an equally robust commitment to both the legitimate security concerns of Israel, and the human rights of the Palestinians."
Q: Where would you go on your first international trip as president?
A: "I can tell you what my first international calls would be, and that is to the leaders of Europe to say, 'We're back.'"
Source: 2019 "Meet the Candidates" (NY Times.com)
, Jun 18, 2019
Support Israeli security & Palestinian human rights
I believe that the United States must have an absolute simultaneous and equal support of the legitimate security concerns of Israel and the human rights and dignities and economic opportunities of the Palestinian people.
The leaders of the Palestinian Authority will know that you say is going to sway me from my commitment to the legitimate security of
Israel, and Israeli leaders similarly will know nothing is going to sway me from my commitment to the human rights and the dignity of the Palestinian people.
It's been since Jimmy Carter that we've had a U.S. president to say flat out those settlements are illegal. In me, you would have a president who says those settlements are illegal.
Source: CNN Town Hall 2020 Democratic primary
, Apr 14, 2019
Return moral principles to our foreign policy
I want the moral leadership of our State Department back. When you're willing to -- for the sake of a $100 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia, go along with support for a genocidal war that we know has starved tens of thousands of Yemenis, when
Mike Pompeo says, "well, sometimes you can have strategic partnerships with people who do not share your values," no, you can't. It means you have sacrificed your values. I want the moral principles that should be central to American foreign policy back.
Source: CNN Town Hall 2020 Democratic primary
, Apr 14, 2019
US should return to being honest broker in Mideast
Israeli-Palestinian peace process: "I don't think the ultimate answer will be about settlements or checkpoints," Williamson told a Jewish news site. "The work of the genuine peace
builders must be on the level of the heart." She added that the U.S. must return to "where it can be considered an honest broker" to play a useful role.
Source: Axios.com "What you need to know about 2020"
, Apr 14, 2019
Make peace with our neighbors, instead of using brute force
While America has some serious enemies--and it's certainly our responsibility to protect our country and our children--I believe our country's way of dealing with security issues is increasingly obsolete. We cannot simply rely on brute force to rid
ourselves of international enemies. In so doing, we overburden our military by asking them to compensate for the work we ourselves are not doing. The only way to make peace with your neighbors is to make peace with your neighbors.
If, over the last 50 years, more people around the world had seen the American flag decal on schools, hospitals, roads and so forth--as opposed to military installations and other material support for regimes in their countries--then we would not have
as many international problems as we have today. America's problem is not just how many people in the world hate us. It's also how many people just don't like us anymore, and are therefore willing to go along with those who seek to harm us.
Source: 2020 presidential campaign website Marianne2020.com
, Apr 8, 2019
Ask ourselves why we are so disliked around the globe
Do we need a military? Of course we do. Do we need to radically rethink its function and operation? Maybe we should think about that. Perhaps it would behoove us to ask ourselves why we are so disliked by many people around the globe. What relatively
little money we do give to nations is applied far less to humanitarian than to military use. As one expert on chemical warfare was quoted as saying, "The only way the US could really be safe from the threat of chemical warfare is if there weren't so
many people out there who hated us."We spend trillions of dollars on methods of destroying life, while routinely withdrawing billions of dollars from projects and efforts that restore life.
The protection afforded us by the machinations of
America's war machine will serve us but little, if we do not address the fundamental causes of hatred and violence, here and throughout the world. We need a Department of Peace, at least as much as we need a Department of Defense.
Source: Healing the Soul of America, by Marianne Williamson, p.170-1
, Jul 24, 2018
Page last updated: Dec 16, 2019