Description
Scenario
You are the Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor – i.e., the senior U.S. Government official charged with monitoring and promoting human rights around the globe. The administration in which you serve is led by a President who has repeatedly emphasized the central role of human rights in his foreign policies. His National Security Strategy emphasizes that “the United States will lead with our values, and we will work in lockstep with our allies and partners and with all those who share our interests.”
The State Department has recently issued the newest version of its annual Human Rights Report (HRR). A journalist from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) has requested to tape a television interview with you about the HRR — and about the Administration’s approach to human rights more broadly. The Department’s Bureau of Global Public Affairs has agreed to your request to grant the interview.
The CBC team shows up in your office at the appointed time and date. After posing several questions about the HRR – which you field expertly on camera – the journalist announces that she has a question regarding Saudi Arabia:
“Your boss, the Secretary of State, made a big deal about the intention of the U.S. to put human rights at the center of foreign policy during this Administration. Your President and Vice-President have also repeatedly underscored their commitment to furthering human rights.
While he was a candidate, your President said that he believed that Saudi Crown Pince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) ordered Khashoggi’s murder and that he would treat Saudia Arabia as a pariah. The U.S. intelligence community has come to the same conclusion. How can you explain to viewers in Canada, therefore, President Biden’s meeting in Riyadh with MBS in July 2022, his handshake with him at the G20 in 2023, and numerous high-level contacts between his Administration and Saudi leaders? For most Canadians, it looks like a clear case of the U.S. selling out what it claims to be cherished values in favor of economic and domestic political interests. How are U.S. policies now any different from those of the Trump Administration, which was at least more open about its commitment to promotion of U.S. national interests and which openly labeled its foreign policy as “principled realism”?”
Instructions
Prepare a 3-4 minute video in which you answer the Canadian journalist’s question. Reply substantively: do not dodge the question. Make sure to address at least the following issues in your reply and provide example(s) to back up every assertion you make.
Which U.S. national interests and national values does the Biden Administration believe to be at stake in the wake of Khashoggi’s killing? Which carry more weight with President Biden in this matter?
Compare President Biden’s approach with President Trump’s. How, if at all, has President Biden’s approach differed from his predecessor’s in managing the relationship with Saudi Arabia following Khashoggi’s murder?
React to the journalist’s reference to the “principled realism” of the Trump Administration. Characterize whether President Biden’s approach to Saudi Arabia has been largely realist, liberal, constructivist, a mixture, or something else?
Do NOT exceed 4 minutes.
