The next U.S. Ambassador to Russia will be the one who, according to rumors, President Donald trump once called the man “who gave our country to China” in that period of time when he occupied the position of US Ambassador in Beijing. Currently, the Democrats are actively protesting against the desire of the White house to mend relations with the Kremlin and the appointment of Jon Huntsman (Jon Huntsman) who has twice held the post of US Ambassador has to calm some jangled nerves of even the most resolute critics of the new administration.
Let us recall the unsuccessful attempt of Hunstman to participate in presidential elections — at that moment I was his press Secretary. According to our internal mythology, grizzled huntsman was kind of a Republican equivalent of Barack Obama — an elegant, charismatic, full of energy and already had a large enough political experience to not let the next contender from the Republican party around it. We were right at least half: he was very talented and incredibly attractive, but he managed to hurt himself much more than everyone else.
The failure of Huntsman in his attempt to take the presidency and his diplomatic successes, there is one immediate cause, namely, his resolute refusal to engage in the most primitive — and therefore, from his point of view, shameful — the mechanisms of successful campaigning for his candidacy. This man will never stoop to that.
Relations between the U.S. and Russia have reached the lowest point over the last 30 years. However, judging from the endless coffee parties new Hampshire, soon John huntsman is not going to curry favor with Vladimir Putin. Those qualities, which ultimately prevented the Huntsman to win the presidential race — that is, almost clinical aversion to obsequiousness — make it the best candidate for the post of U.S. Ambassador to Russia in the era of Donald trump.
The huntsman was the “revolutionary” candidate in the presidential race of 2012. He supported the issuance of hunting licenses to children under the age of 12, he banned abortion in the second trimester and reclassified abortion in the third trimester in the crimes of the third category. He was also behind the largest tax cut in the history of Utah.
Despite the fact that it steps on a post of the Governor of Utah was pretty revolutionary, his rhetoric during the election campaign was completely colorless. His moderate positions — supporting civil unions and then same-sex marriage — not let him be the center of media attention. He didn’t want to stir up war hysteria and refused to participate in the politics of personal destruction, which fueled the recent presidential election.
Discreet, intelligent and competent huntsman is the anti-trump.
The huntsman is a diplomat to the bone: he was a U.S. Ambassador under three presidents of both parties. He is extremely well-versed in issues of international trade and military intricacies. And pathos on a scale from zero to Kanye West (Kanye West), he takes place next to the pure tofu. (His most harsh critical statement against his main opponent in the primaries, MITT Romney (Mitt Romney), was a remark in which he compared endlessly vacillating Governor of Massachusetts with a “perfectly lubricated weather vane”. Brilliant!)
Despite all its sharp stylistic deviations, the train on the world the huntsman during the election campaign presented himself as a nationalist candidate to adhere to the idea of “America first”. He said that Afghanistan needed programs for combating terrorism and not on nation-building than the United States then engaged in practice. He was hit in the lyrics, claiming that the United States should focus on “restoring our terminal in the country”, referring to the aging infrastructure and system deficiencies of school education. Now it can hardly be called a successful slogan, worthy to be sewn on a baseball cap. However, the mood remains the same: you must again make America great and allow others to independently fight for their future.
The next U.S. Ambassador to Russia will inherit America’s relationship with the regime, which is so hostile to freedom that even allows itself to interfere in the sacred democratic process. The problems that await the Huntsman, will require his willingness to voice a harsh truth, regardless of the consequences for political or personal relations: that America and its allies will not accept the illegal occupation of Crimea, that cyber attacks on American institutions and elected officials will not remain unanswered, and that America today is, as he said Ronald Reagan, “shining city on a hill, whose light serves as a beacon for freedom-loving people around the world.”
These challenges deserve the attention of Jon Huntsman. On the background of the doubts and scandals that surrounded the campaign, his reputation remains unblemished. And while questions about management experience hamper the work of the current administration, the experience of the Huntsman makes it official, which has no competitors.
John huntsman is a pretty bad politician, but a great citizen of their country.
