Sanders Believes in Diplomatic, Non-Militaristic Approach to Foreign Policy Issues

On Wednesday, November 11th, presidential candidate Rebecca Sanders held a press conference addressing the media as the election draws near. The candidate addressed various issues spanning from climate change to the campaign tactics of Donald Trump. She handled the questions from both liberal and conservative media with poise and conviction. This was especially clear when it came to issues regarding foreign policy.

Sanders, a self-proclaimed “democratic socialist,” believes as a general sentiment, foreign policy issues should not be solved with more military presence. She voted against the war in Iraq in 2002. And despite supporting, begrudgingly so, NATO’s bombing of Syria in 1999, she is against NATO expanding eastward, saying that it is a huge waste of taxpayer money.

On Wednesday, when asked about what she feels should be the United States’ role in the Israel-Palestine conflict, she responded saying that we need to “take care of ourselves first.” Despite being allies with Israel, we have the interests of our own troops to worry about first and foremost. With that being said, candidate Sanders “[does] not condone any violent acts between the two,” and wants to pursue a “two-state solution” to the conflict.

Much of the press conference was spent talking about domestic policy. However, with criticisms of Sanders’ lack of foreign policy experience following her along the campaign trail, hopefully we will be able to hear more about her plans of action in places like Cuba, Russia and Syria at upcoming debates and press conferences.