New congressional group to promote ‘engagement’ abroad

A new congressional caucus announced Thursday will seek to promote U.S. global engagement and leadership in international organizations.

Organized by the new chair of the House Foreign Affairs International Organizations subcommittee, Missouri Democrat Russ Carnahan (right), and Louisiana Republican Anh “Joseph” Cao, the “American Engagement Caucus”  will be all about “promoting engagement as a foreign policy strategy that’s clearly in American security, economic, and moral interests,” Carnahan told The Cable.

It’s important to remember that most such groupings in the U.S. Congress are like money and morality: They largely exist only in people’s minds. But Carnahan intends to make this caucus an active one, holding regular briefings and meeting with foreign policy specialists and the public, all toward the goal of “raising awareness among members of Congress, their staffs, and the public to identify both failures and success stories,” he said.

Although the caucus doesn’t yet have policy positions on exactly how engagement should proceed with countries such as Iran or Sudan, the group’s introductory materials do focus on expanding trade opportunities and reengaging the United Nations.

“We live in an age of interdependence. America’s security, economic, environmental, and moral interests are inextricably linked with those of the international community,” the two new caucus chairmen wrote in The Hill today, “Simply put, it is in our vital national interest to support international engagement.”

The caucus has seven members as of now, with more to come, Carnahan says.