PD Editorial: US-Iran tensions put foreign affairsin 2020 spotlight

Domestic policy tends to dominate American presidential campaigns, especially on the Democratic side. The current contest has been no exception, with a relentless focus on health care, taxes, social justice and, of course, who is most likely to unseat President Donald Trump.

With the events of the past week, it’s time to make space on the agenda for foreign policy.

The war drums have eased, at least for now. After flexing their muscles, the United States and Iran stepped back from the brink of war.

But the shadow war continues. Washington imposed more economic sanctions last week, and Tehran renounced international restrictions on its nuclear weapons program. Both sides threatened further retaliation. The simmering conflict could boil over at any time. And it could spill into Iraq, Syria and other Gulf countries.

Americans are tiring of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, which have claimed 7,000 American lives since 2001. But neither Trump nor any of his would-be successors has offered a strategy for winding down the U.S. presence there, or in about a dozen other countries where ground troops have been deployed under the auspices of the post-9/11 war on terror.

America’s global challenges aren’t limited to the Middle East.

There’s little doubt that North Korea is still pursuing its nuclear ambitions despite three summit meetings where Trump and Kim Jong Un fawned over one another. Like tensions with Iran, Trump’s trade wars in Europe and Asia heat up and cool off without resolution.

NATO and other traditional alliances are strained, again largely because of the president’s erratic and impulsive approach to diplomacy.

China is a rising security threat in the Pacific, and its treatment of pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong, not to mention Uighurs and other Chinese Muslims, has been nothing short of deplorable.

No threat looms larger than climate change. Immediate international cooperation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is essential if the most devastating impacts are to be avoided, or at least limited. That will only occur with U.S. leadership.

And U.S. security experts warn that Russia, Iran, China and other countries may try to meddle in the 2020 presidential election.

The winner of the 2020 election, whomever that may be, is likely to be faced with all of these issues. And unforeseen issues will rise.

Presidential candidates stick to domestic issues, conventional wisdom says, because that’s what voters care most about. But presidents devote much of their time to international affairs, and no one exercises more hard or soft power than America’s chief executive.

Congress routinely battles with presidents on domestic matters but tends to defer - too much so, in our judgment - to the White House on foreign affairs. So voters need to know where the candidates stand, who will advise them and how they will make decisions about war and peace.

The final Democratic debate before the Iowa caucuses is Tuesday evening in Des Moines. The moderators would do a public service by asking pointed questions about war, peace and diplomacy. The candidates owe it to voters to explain how they would manage those vital responsibilities.