HUNTSMAN’S HARD CHOICESSàiGòn Weekly Online - Văn Hóa – Chính Trị - Xã Hội

Utahns should be glad to hear that Mr. Jon Huntsman now will be running (again) for the governorship of their state in 2020. If elected governor, he will most likely have relaxing days ahead with a least challenging job in hand. He has more experience than needed to perform his duty. In fact, he has won this seat twice, and when he left this job in 2009, he also garnered high rates of approval. He has the love and the trust of the people.
            But Huntsman is a very special politician in its real sense. He has served in the past five administrations - three Republicans and two Democrats. Huntsman has been much well noted for his non-partisanship or bipartisanship. That might be the reason behind his failure in the 2012 presidential bid.
            Mr. Huntsman is also known as a career diplomat. He was appointed U.S. ambassador to Singapore by President George H.W. Bush in 1992, when he was only 32. Obama also had him as an U.S. envoy to China from 2009 until 2011. Then President Trump also made him U.S. ambassador to Russia from 2017-2019. In January 2014, the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based foreign policy think-tank, chose Huntsman to be its chair. Under Bush’s administration, Huntsman was also a deputy assistant secretary of commerce for more than two years.
That’s why we could/would have a sense of loss or regret with his return to the governorship of Utah.
            We’re living at the most challenging time for the world order, to the extent the Cold War looked more and more like the good old days. In fact, never in the past the world disorder was more subversive and horrific as it is now.
The “Islamic world” in the 21^st century is much more sinister than ever in the past. Radical Islamist forces are more and more interested in bringing terrorist attacks to Western countries – the higher civilian toll the better. Civil wars in Arab countries are genocidally rampant (Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Lybia). Hundreds of thousands of Islamic civilians have perished their lives or blindly fled their countries since the Arab Spring broke out a decade ago, only to incite racism among the whites in many Western countries.
            Vladimir Putin’s scheme to expand the Slavian empire down south to the Middle East is much more menacing than the Soviet Union embracing the East European bloc before. To fulfill this dream, Russia has continuously poked its nose into the politics of the U.S. as well as European countries with a view to showing to his people that Western democracy ridiculously is not working.
The “Chinese Dream” is more alarming because of Xi Jinping’s make-believe “Mandate of Heaven” for China to expand globally, by trade, by aid and by global immigration (which reminds us of the nightmarish “yellow peril” in the old days). When necessary, Beijing seems to be ready to exert power in order to intimidate China’s neighbors to enhance its control in the East Sea.
            The U.S. has played no small part in this global disorder. Mr. Trump’s “America First” achievements should include his three “summits” with Kim Jong-un, his “fraternal” meeting with Putin in Helsinki, the trade war of this “stable genius” with China, his “quid pro quo” deal with Ukraine, his decision to move the American embassy to Jerusalem and recognition of settlements raised by Israel in the West Bank, and his “thoughtful” requests that all major U.S. allies in the world should pay the U.S. more money.
The world is in disarray because what we are observing is neither the old order nor a new one. In no time the U.S. will have to act to assess its role in reshaping the world. The depressing question, however, is whether we have top leaders with knowledge, understanding, and experience in global politcs to conduct the nation’s foreign policy to re-establish the U.S. role for the aim of restoring world order.
Jon Huntsman’s knowledge, understanding and experience in global politics, especially where U.S. relations with Russia and China are concerned, are worth challenging. They in fact can be badly needed. That’s why there is a belief that he will be missed and will soon be faced with hard choices!

HUNTSMAN’S HARD CHOICES

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