War is not the same as a strong defense, and when it comes to making decisions that affect the rest of the world, Republicans are hostile towards both our friends and enemies. They are belligerent towards allies who are hesitant to send their troops to die under false pretenses. And they are flaming tensions between countries that we should be working closely with, only because they are afraid of foreign competition and foreigners themselves.

You have to find Iran before you can bomb it

The push to make English an official language has as much effect as legislating laws to make it rain less. It arises from people who feel that America is losing its white Anglo-Saxon culture. These people blatantly forget that their ancestors came to America speaking other languages — most of them not that long ago — and they disregard how hard it is to learn a new language, something they will never do themselves. They forget that their immigrant ancestors probably never fully learned English; it was their children and their children’s children that learned it by default. All the hubbub only serves to heighten an already fiery xenophobia, and reduces America’s international image of openness and tolerance, probably our strongest asset.

Republicans also forget how big America is and how small other countries are in comparison. Smaller allies have limited military budgets and equipment, which is one of the reasons why America is so powerful, as we fill different needs i.e. patrolling international waters. But smaller military capability makes countries less hawkish, and much more reluctant to send troops overseas. America helps many nations to procure military materials through aid and training, but there is a permanent advantage to having American fulfill these duties. Picking fights with allies over their reluctance to go to war across the world reveals how little Republicans understand about the role of America.

There are two types of democracy, one that all democracies share and one that only America has now. The first is domestic democracy, a process by which each citizen has a voice regarding his or her concerns at home. The second is international democracy, which should be regulated by groups like the UN, but because of America’s highly involved role in the operations of other nations, the American electorate is thus influential in this regard too, without any sort of formal international training or even the smallest notion of what life is like in other places.

Furthermore, the ignorance that permeates the Republican base makes it downright irresponsible to have them contribute to foreign policy arguments. People that cannot even comprehend the issues facing our own country should be barred from exercising their opinions globally. Ask every Republican to locate Afghanistan on a map and you will find very few who can. This is troubling, and extremely frightening when people feel that Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, and Al-Qaeda are all different problems, even though they are completely inter-connected and dependant upon each other.

Just as a Republican gets upset when people in remote villages around the world make ignorant statements about America, so too does the rest of the world get upset when Republicans make ignorant statements. Making statements is one thing, but when those statements can lead to action, as happens in the case of America, there must be something to prevent the ignorance of our nation’s wrong wing from harming the delicate and, for the most part, peaceful balance of world order.