Monday evening, I had the opportunity to listen to one of the most respectable, intellectual and influential individuals grazing our political sphere today. Jon Huntsman, former governor of Utah, presidential candidate and ambassador to China, talked with Peter Feaver, director of the Triangle Institute for Security Studies, about how we should go about maintaining our position as a superpower in a rapidly changing international climate.
Huntsman said the United States should not fear the rise of a modern China. We should, instead, see the nation’s growing international influence as an opportunity. Huntsman believes that the U.S.-China relationship is “more complex than sound bites” and that, despite current opinion, we should take advantage of what China has to offer economically. I agree with Huntsman that, despite our difference in strategy, “we must concentrate on conversion, not diversion."
Huntsman served as an ambassador to China under President Obama, and cites his experience as the reason why he believes we can improve our relations with the nation. Apprehension about the issue is understandable considering the period of uncertainty that we live in. We, as Americans, are threatened by the rise of China because we believe that they’re trying to knock us down. Huntsman made a very good point by noting that when unemployment was low, we accepted the fact of the matter, but when unemployment increases, our attitude about global relations changes.
We, Americans, do a very good job of isolating our issues from everyone else. Yes, we face great economic and political challenges, but that doesn’t mean that other nations aren’t dealing with the same problems. The fact that we refuse to engage ourselves with our Asian counterpart could, according to Huntsman, lead to “a new Cold War." The United States is experiencing a different scene in international politics. Despite whether or not we choose to accept it, we are entering a new period with significantly fewer resources, a weak economy, and less influence in the international community. The economy of the world’s most populated nation will surpass ours at some point, and we must accept that. There’s no avoiding it, so why not work with China now and improve our economic relations for the future?
"You're in public service because you always believe in putting your country first,” Huntsman said. In many ways, improving our relationship with China embodies the idea of standing first in line.
In the midst of serving his second term as governor of Utah, President Obama contacted Huntsman and asked him to serve as ambassador to China. Yet, despite being a conservative Republican who served in the administrations of Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, Huntsman decided that he couldn't turn down the offer because he felt a duty to serve his country. Ultimately, he recognized that his decision to work under Obama cost him significantly during his unsuccessful bid for Republican presidential nomination.
Huntsman said that his moderate stance as a Republican presidential candidate was unpopular. A central theme of his lecture was not only negotiation, but bipartisanship as well. Huntsman took the step across party lines—and was the first figure to do so in a long period of time–because he believes that “we’ve forgotten how to come together”.
And he’s right.
Huntsman chose to run because of three shortfalls he sees in our current political situation. First is the fiscal deficit. Second is the lack of trust in elected representatives, more specifically congress. The solution to the lack of trust is, according to Huntsman, to undermine the power of the Super PACs and lobbying groups which he said are “destroying our democracy”, and to make primary elections more fair so that one state doesn’t have the power to sway the elections. The third shortfall is a lack of confidence in our country caused by the emotional and physical detriment of 9/11 and the recent downturn of our economy. But despite all of these shortfalls, Huntsman sees bigger possibilities ahead, specifically in the use of natural gas to offset the environmental impacts of our current oil-based energy system, scientific breakthroughs in medical treatment through genomics and other likelihoods.
I left Page Auditorium with a sense that there are many comparable interests between the United States and China, such as the global and domestic economy, the environment, and international peace and security. Throughout his term as ambassador, Huntsman relied on an old Mandarin proverb that was told to him by a Chinese official—“together we learn, together we study, and together we progress.”
Someone with an ideology like that shouldn’t have lost a presidential nomination solely due to the fact that he agreed to work with the other party. After last night, I was reassured that Huntsman does in fact have a logical theory of foreign policy. Honestly, I would much rather prefer him on the ticket instead of Romney.
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