State of Maine Archives: on Foreign Policy

Susan Rice: Didn't want to be pigeonholed as "black working on Africa"

Zak Ringelstein: America is best when working for global peace & partnerships

Chris Lyons: Oppose American Exceptionalism

A: oppose

Eric Brakey: Crazy that we have our troops in 177 different countries

Brakey has certainly put his chips in the center of the table; as a Maine representative on the Republican National Committee National Platform Convention in Cleveland last year, he supported unsuccessful condemnations of the intervention in Libya and a resolution calling the deposition of Middle Eastern dictators a failed policy. Where others talk the talk, Brakey has gone out on a limb to uphold and represent his values on the main stage.

Eric Brakey: Deposing secular dictators in Mid-East empowers our enemies

Brakey proposed to condemn the Obama administration's intervention in Libya and blame it for destabilizing the region and empowering the Islamic State. "The deposing of secular dictators in the Middle East empowers our enemies," his text read. "We oppose the continuing of this failed practice."

Defending his views, Brakey summoned Trump: "Even our presumptive nominee acknowledges that the decision to take out the secular dictator in Iraq was a mistake," he noted. But other delegates said they didn't like the idea of the GOP "defending evil dictators." That amendment was defeated, as were several other Brakey proposals aimed at turning the party in a less interventionist direction. Delegates declined to soften the party's stance toward Russia, or to categorically condemn foreign aid.

Eliot Cutler: China's future is like America in 1890s: booming and growing

A: Yes! I'm working with the Bangor Chinese School and the University of Maine at Farmington. They both want to bring to Maine a Confucius Institute, which is a Chinese-sponsored program that promotes language and culture.

Q: And are there lessons to take away from China as well?

A: Yes. It's a resource-constrained country of 1.3 billion people. Much of China is desert, and desertification is a big, growing problem. Beijing is a city of 18 million people, and it's going to go dry. But there's palpable confidence and excitement. Have you ever wished you had a time machine and could experience living in the US in the 1890s or 1920, when we were booming and growing? Here's an opportunity to see what it must have been like. Having a sense of that again and seeing how much difference that can make in people's lives, and in a country's life, is an important lesson to bring home.

Shenna Bellows: Served for two years in Peace Corps, in Panama

From 1999 to 2001 she served in the Peace Corps in Panama, where she facilitated the development and execution of a micro-credit lending program for artisan groups and also served as the Co-President of Women in Development/Gender and Development. From 1997 to 1999 Bellows worked as a researcher and recruiter for Economists Incorporated, a privately held economic consulting firm specializing in microeconomic analysis in antitrust, regulatory and legal contexts in Washington, DC. Bellows graduated magna cum laude from Middlebury College in Vermont with a degree in International Politics and Economics. She grew up in Hancock, Maine.