A Look at the Foreign Policies of the 2016 Presidential Election: DNC

By Ryan Guerra, UNANCA Staff

Last week I took a look at the Presidential Ticket of Donald Trump and Mike Pence. I discussed their positions on the United Nations and their almost isolationist response to foreign policy. This week I will be taking a critical look at the Democratic Ticket of Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine. Check back next week for a look at surprise players in the election, Libertarian Candidates Gov. Gary Johnson of New Mexico and Gov. Bill Weld of Massachusetts.

After a hard fought Democratic Primary where seemingly unknown Senator Bernie Sanders gave front-runner Hilary Clinton some seriously strong competition, Clinton came out on top as the Democratic Nominee for President. In the end, the Primary pushed the Democratic Party left on many issues and helped form a more unified and hopeful Democratic Party. She soon chose her running make, Tim Kaine, a Senator from Virginia who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee, the Budget Committee, and the Armed Services Committee. Kaine is often considered a bland choice, but he may have an underlying progressive lean based on his many years of service to the people of Virginia.

Hilary Clinton is well versed in foreign policy, as, having served four years as Secretary of State, she has had time to form her opinion on important policy issues. Clinton has worked with foreign dignitaries, diplomats, and President Obama to pass treaties and legislation through Congress on multiple foreign policy bills.

Clinton is very supportive of the United Nations. She attended the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in 2009, where she successfully pushed through a last minute increase in foreign aid for developing nations to deal with the effects of Climate Change. Secretary Clinton has especially worked with the UN Human Rights Council, historically stating in one address that, "Women's Rights are human rights, and human rights are women's rights." She has worked hard to promote equality for women as as for the LGBTQ community, illustrated when she revised her famous line in another speech to the Human Rights Council to say. "Gay Rights are Human Rights and Human Rights are Gay Rights."

Secretary Clinton also supports taking in a larger amount of Syrian Refugees. In September, an interviewer asked Clinton whether she wanted to bring in more refugees to the United States. Secretary Clinton replied that she, "would like to see us move from what is a good start with 10,000 to 65,000 and begin immediately to put into place the mechanisms for vetting people that we would take in." This is a more than 500% increase in refugees taken in by the United States. She views the refugee crisis as growing worse and wants to do everything she can to help ease the burden. This view seems to line up with the views of Clinton's running mate, Tim Kaine, very well. In May 2015, Tim Kaine, along with 13 other members of the Senate, sent a letter to President Obama urging him to increase the number of refugees accepted into the United States. They even went so far as to request the Obama administration encourage other nations to accept more refugees as well.

UNA-NCA believes that helping our brothers and sisters fleeing war, persecution or other forms of violence is of the utmost importance. Earlier in the summer we attended UNA-USA's advocacy day where one of our three important "asks" was for members of congress to support an increase in refugees taken in by the United States. While taking in refugees could have negative effects, we believe that with a thorough vetting process security risks can be managed and we can help people who are in dire need of assistance.