Impeachment and the World: Project Syndicate

US diplomacy is under a cloud as details emerge from US impeachment proceedings. The investigation focuses on efforts to persuade Ukraine’s new president to announce an investigation into activities of a US politician's son. Ukraine, at war at Russia, depends on a show of US support, including a meeting with President Donald Trump and release of military aid approved by Congress. Witnesses describe private attorney Rudy Giuliani working on policies that interfered with official policy and the US president advising state department staff to work with Giuliani. “America’s Ukraine policy is born of its commitments to European and international security,” explains Carl Bildt. “At least since Russia’s annexation of Crimea and incursions into eastern Ukraine in 2014, helping Ukraine secure its independence and sovereignty has been a central foreign-policy concern for both the US and the European Union.” The scandal distracts US attention from global challenges including trade tensions, North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, inequality that has triggered global protests and aggression from Russia, China and Iran. World leaders must reassess their own relations with the United States and determine how to identify and manage the contradictions between domestic politics and official foreign policy goals. – YaleGlobal