Virginia Senator Tim Kaine (D.) spoke to a class of Longwood students last Thursday in the face of the upcoming debate.
Virginia Senator Tim Kaine visited Dr. Harbour’s American Foreign Policy class this past Thursday and discussed many topics that relate to the class curriculum.
Formerly the governor of Virginia, Kaine was elected into the Senate in 2012, where he took on roles in the Foreign Relations Committee, Budget Committee and the Armed Services Committee, which is a position close to his heart, as his son serves in the Marine Corps. Kaine emphasized that it’s not only that, but Virginia is the “most military state, and one in nine people is a veteran.”
Kaine’s main point was that “we have O(perational) plans, but no strategy. We have a plan for what to do if North Korea were to move across the border into South Korea; we have a plan for what we would do if Putin decided to move Russian troops into a NATO allied country. We have plans for all these eventualities, but we don’t have a strategy.”
Kaine asserted that the United States need to refer back to Winston Churchill’s “Sinews of Peace” speech, more commonly known as the Iron Curtain speech and the Truman Doctrine. He mentions that the Truman Doctrine, “the last comprehensive foreign policy that the United States has had,” has its flaws, designating too much money to defense, which takes away from the money going to education and getting students to college.
Kaine followed up his speech by taking a series of student questions.
“Poland has a far right, Putin-style movement, but it’s democratic. Should we support all democracies, even ones that are going against what we believe in in terms of dealing with Russia?”
Kaine started off by stating that The United States is a liberty protected democracy and being in a democracy can be a pretty scary place if you’re a minority.
“What if you’re in a pure democracy and you’re a religious minority, ethnic minority or racial minority, and the majority says ‘we don’t like you?’ We are a liberal democracy; we protect the liberties of the minority and their rights,” stated Kaine. “So, you’re right, democracies are no guarantee that the public will do what we will do, but democracies are preferable to authoritarian nations and so with a nation like Poland.”
According to Kaine, Poland’s been a very good ally of the United States since the Soviet Union fell.
“So, when you see far-right parties that tilt a little towards Russia, we have to be realistic that Russia’s next door (to Polland), we’re thousands of miles away. We can’t say, ‘don’t have any relationship with Canada.’ They’re right next door,” said Kaine. “We have to acknowledge… the area they live in, where it becomes more problematic is if they become anti-Semites or something like that.”
Kaine emphasized that when this happens it is the sign of a democracy moving into more of an authoritarian state, using Turkey as an example.
“What advice would you give to the public about diplomacy?”
Kaine addressed the importance of reinvigorating diplomacy and making more creative efforts and how it is possible for countries to be at war and then become allies, giving Japan and the United States as examples.
Lastly, Sen. Kaine mentioned “I’m so happy that (the vice presidential debate) is going to be here. In fact, the Virginia delegation, we weighed in on the vice presidential debate commission on Longwood’s behalf… because the history of the college, it’s one of the oldest one hundred colleges in the United States, and the history of Farmville and this area is powerful. This will be a wonderful opportunity for the school and Farmville to show off.”
Virginia Senator Tim Kaine (D.) spoke to a class of Longwood students last Thursday in the face of the upcoming debate.
