At Senator Sanders’ Town Hall, Experts Make the Case for Progressive Foreign Policy

Yann Schinazi
on May 17, 2018

On Monday, May 14, I had the opportunity to attend an urgent and important discussion on the need to define a progressive vision of US foreign policy, at a time when the Trump administration is attacking the very idea of international cooperation and undermining our nation’s global credibility.

Hosted by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) — and following similar “town hall” events he has organized on domestic issues in recent months — this conversation was prompted by the Trump administration’s recent decision to withdraw from the JCPOA nuclear agreement with Iran.

Bringing together four leading experts on the Middle East, non-proliferation and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Sanders asked questions and led the discussion, which was livestreamed from the Capitol Auditorium to viewers across the country watching on various online platforms and channels.

Together, Sanders and the panel made the case not just against the devastating impact of Trumpism, but also in favor of a forward-looking foreign policy.

While the event began with discussion of the JCPOA – and the current administration’s extraordinary threats to level economic sanctions against strong US allies as a means of forcing them out of the pact – it segued into a larger conversation covering vital challenges to collective security and values everywhere from Gaza to Yemen. Together, Sanders and the panel made the case not just against the devastating impact of Trumpism, but also in favor of a forward-looking foreign policy — one driven by a commitment to advancing principles of peace and justice, prioritizing diplomacy and repositioning the United States as an honest broker across the Middle East and around the world.

You can watch the entire event below: