Aftandilian in The Arab Weekly on Trump’s Foreign Policy
Gregory Aftandilian, Lecturer at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, published a recent Op-Ed on United States President Donald Trump’s foreign policy, and the high-ranking State Department positions that remain unfilled nearly a year into Trump’s presidency.
Aftandilian’s Op-Ed, entitled “Trump Undermining His Own Government on Foreign Policy,” was published by The Arab Weekly on November 19, 2017.
From the text of the article:
Although there normally are disagreements between presidents and the people they appoint to the government bureaucracy, US President Donald Trump has taken such disagreements to a level not seen before.
Trump operates as the CEO of the Trump Company, barking out statements and orders oblivious to the consequences. This is due to his narcissistic personality as well as to his lack of understanding about how government works.
When pressed recently by an interviewer about the large number of unfilled high-ranking US State Department positions, Trump said: “The one that matters is me. I’m the only one that matters because when it comes to it, that’s what the policy is going to be.”
Although the final word on foreign policy does indeed rest with the president according to the US Constitution, Trump’s patent disregard for the views and advice of foreign policy professionals in the government is astounding.
Aftandilian spent over 21 years in government service, most recently on Capitol Hill where he was foreign policy adviser to Congressman Chris Van Hollen (2007-2008), professional staff member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and foreign policy adviser to Senator Paul Sarbanes (2000-2004), and foreign policy fellow to the late Senator Edward Kennedy (1999).