Hugh Dugan<\/p>\n
19 January 2017<\/p>\n
In US Senate hearings South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, Donald Trump\u2019s nominee as US Ambassador to the United Nations, previewed her rising-star, comet-like appeal.\u00a0 Likely Senate confirmation would serve US interests well following years of relative darkness and dormancy at the UN.<\/p>\n
Halley, unlike UN predecessors Susan Rice or Samantha Power, comes to the UN with much more experience – international or any other, easy criticism to the contrary.<\/p>\n
Given the UN\u2019s latest hate note to Israel and US Senate plans to cut off UN funding as a result, \u201cthe UN could benefit from a fresh set of eyes\u201d Haley noted.\u00a0 This was a subtle rebuttal to detractors that she lacks international experience to serve as a senior diplomat.\u00a0 Although she admitted that \u201cinternational diplomacy is a new area for me\u201d, Haley\u2019s international experience is, in fact, more than sufficient.<\/p>\n
At the hearing Haley told her personal story \u2013 an international expertise developed not by travelling, but by dealing with the world from home.<\/p>\n
She described being a first-generation immigrant from India as a young teenager settling in South Carolina.\u00a0 This alone qualifies her no less than her UN predecessor, Samantha Power, herself a youthful immigrant from Ireland settling in nearby Georgia.\u00a0 Haley helped run her family\u2019s fledgling business that competed very well in a market flooded with imports.\u00a0 As a State legislator in South Carolina, she worked in give-and-take typical of UN decision-making.\u00a0 While head of state, Governor Haley defended and advanced South Carolina\u2019s sovereign interests, for example, by persuading BMW to make more cars there than anywhere else outside of in Germany.\u00a0 The state has defense forces of its own – the National Guard and the State Guard \u2013 under her watch.\u00a0 Finally, Haley\u2019s careful stewardship of South Carolina\u2019s $26 billion state budget, larger than that of several foreign countries, puts into perspective the UN\u2019s annual $2.9 billion program budget which needs overhaul.<\/p>\n
Haley\u2019s hallmark, however, is her ability to unite different backgrounds and viewpoints over race, a model for anyone hoping to champion human rights in the world.<\/p>\n
Yes, Haley has the skill set of a successful internationalist.\u00a0 But come to think of it, what American alive today doesn\u2019t have international experience?\u00a0 Each year, more and more Americans live without borders by being online, drive cars assembled here and there, travel abroad, use the world wide web as a bookshelf, order masterfully from Szechuan, Cuban, and Thai menus, borrow billions from China, export Hollywood and import Bollywood.\u00a0 Is there an American among us who only American, who is NOT international?<\/p>\n
Those impacted hard by globalization might wish they were not so international.\u00a0 They find themselves laden with international experience to the point of collapse.\u00a0 Their populist discontent is what brought Mr. Trump to office.<\/p>\n
Frankly, the stock criticism that Haley doesn\u2019t have international experience by traditional criteria in turn strengthens her populist appeal, working against her critics and other Trump deniers.\u00a0 We have seen this happen time and again \u2013 critics\u2019 spears returning as painful boomerangs.<\/p>\n
So, while well-experienced for international politics, Haley thankfully is not a boisterous internationalista<\/i>, rather a down to earth, open-eyed manager whose record shows that she moves on today\u2019s opportunities while staying ahead of its risks.\u00a0 She is the all-the-better choice for making American great again at the UN.<\/p>\n
It looks like Haley\u2019s \u201cfresh set of eyes\u201d will lock \u201cayes\u201d with the Senate in order to shine light on a dark and dormant United Nations Organization.<\/p>\n
END<\/p>\n
Professor Hugh Dugan is a Sharkey Distinguished Visiting Scholar at School of Diplomacy and International Relations, Seton Hall University.\u00a0He\u00a0served as a US Delegate to the United Nations from 1989-2015.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hugh Dugan 19 January 2017 In US Senate hearings South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, Donald Trump\u2019s nominee as US Ambassador to the United Nations, previewed…<\/p>\n