Two foreign policy experts within the Five Colleges expressed different views about President-elect Donald Trump’s pick Tuesday for secretary of state, ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson.
One says he’d make a mockery of American foreign policy, while the other points out that Tillerson has experience at dealing with all types of governments.
Michael Klare, a professor of peace and world security at Hampshire College, said Tillerson could have conflicts of interest when it comes to foreign policy especially when it comes to Russia.
He cites Exxon’s contract with Rosneft, a state-owned oil corporation in Russia, for an oil drilling project in the Kara Sea, an offshoot of the Arctic, as an example. Exxon was forced to terminate it after sanctions were imposed on Russia after its annexation of Crimea, Klare said.
The $700 million project has yet to find oil and would be worthless if not completed, according to the New York Times.
While Tillerson is expected to retire in 2017, Klare said his stance on foreign policy may still be favor of Exxon. If sanctions are lifted, Exxon’s Kara Sea project could be continued.
“(Tillerson) devoted his entire life to ExxonMobil,” Klare said. “Why should we assume he will suddenly put that aside?”
Klare said Tillerson as secretary of state could change the way foreign policy is perceived.
Currently, Klare said American foreign policy is focused on expanding the web of nations that are democratic and support American values of freedom and democracy, but a CEO of a large oil company could change the perspective of foreign policy to focus on enriching American corporations.
Klare said Tillerson would “make a mockery of American foreign policy.”
“I think he will make the United States look like a cartoon image of what the United States stands for,” he said.
University of Massachusetts Amherst political science professor Paul Musgrave thinks differently.
Musgrave said ExxonMobil is one of the largest oil companies with a massive global interest and, as CEO, Tillerson is experienced in international negotiations where a lot is at stake.
“The thing I like best about Rex Tillerson is that he has vast experience at dealing successfully with all types of foreign governments,” Trump said on Twitter.
“Romney probably has fewer qualifications than Tillerson,” Musgrave said of Mitt Romney, former Massachusetts governor and 2012 Republican presidential candidate, who was a contender for secretary of state.
Regardless of Tillerson’s appointment, Musgrave said the sanctions blocking the Kara Sea project are likely be lifted in the Trump administration.
Meanwhile, UMass Amherst professor of political science M.J. Peterson said Trump has been consistent with nominating people from the business world to the White House.
Peterson said some assume that running a business is similar to running a country. However, running a business is quantifiable, Peterson said. “You are either making money or losing money,” she said.
The success of running a country is not as easily recognized or even visible, she said. Success in politics could be avoiding potential disputes or prevent problems that could arise in the future.
Tillerson’s appointment awaits approval from the Senate, and Klare said, “I think he’s going to come under close scrutiny.”
Caitlin Ashworth can be reached at cashworth@gazettenet.com.