Nikki Haley’s book “With All Due Respect,” is a really good history lesson on what went on internationally during the latter parts of the Trump Administration. It focuses on how our country and other countries dealt international issues, especially at the U.N.
She gives some of her background, starting way back in Charleston, South Carolina, where she was governor, highlighting events that began there in her early years of public service. She explains how right now things are really coming to a peak in our country due to the present administration’s policies on foreign affairs.
Whether you like him or not, Donald Trump accomplished a lot while he was President of the U.S. Unfortunately, many of those accomplishments have been pretty well wiped out by the Biden Administration in both relationships with and respect of other countries. Trump was never concerned with other countries (or people domestically) liking him. What he was concerned with was the U.S. being respected by other countries. Many countries “like us” because we are giving them something. Being liked is not a good thing for the U.S. in that scenario because we are giving away our money and/or resources in exchange for nothing.
That does not strengthen our standing in the world; it only weakens it. If America is strong, we can help the world. When America becomes weaker in the future due to weak foreign policies by any administration, we are not going to be able to help the world. We don’t need to be the strongest and the best in the world, but we can be the most consistent in being thought of as a nation that helps others.
In her history lesson, Nikki Haley highlights the fact that we were, in fact, giving money to all these countries in the U.N. that hated us, countries that would ultimately vote against us in that forum. To seek accountability of other nations, she used a process of “taking names” of those who took our money and supported us and took it and didn’t support us. She was instrumental in us cutting off a lot of countries’ financial support because they clearly were always against us.
The fact of the matter is: 75% to 80% of the people in the U.N. are against the United States.
WHY WE BELONG TO THIS ORGANIZATION IS BEYOND ME
She doesn’t have our level of cynicism; Haley actually believes this could all be straightened out. We say – good for her!
The United Nations is rampant with corruption. Money is missing everywhere in every department and in everything they do, and Haley discusses the inefficiency of the U.N. and its ability to accomplish anything. I mean, there are so many ways to make the U.N. more effective.
The Security Council is an important branch of the United Nations and could be an effective agency in keeping peace and security of the world. However, the Security Council is largely controlled by communists and socialists who shouldn’t be allowed to be on that council. The U.N. was started based on human rights of developing countries and supporting human rights. Sadly, it doesn’t do anything close to that. It allows dictators like Venezuela’s Maduro to continue to thrive. Also, let’s look at Syria. They have a dictator that’s killed 500,000-plus of his own people; yet Syria is still a member of the U.N. It is beyond comprehension that an agency supposedly working for human rights ignores the atrocities committed by these dictators.
Haley details all of this in detail in a logical way. She talks about redlines that have been set and describes how we have historically just let them go which severely undermined our respect by other countries with actions like the actions of the Obama Administration in Syria. Had we dealt with that crisis at the time, we could have saved a lot of lives.
And do you remember when the United Nations was against the use of chemical weapons? No longer. Now nations are not even admonished for committing these atrocities. It’s just allowed to happen. In Syria, the chemical weapons they’re using came from Iraq, furnished by Sadam Hussein when we went in to try and find them. That fact is well-documented.
Haley also talks about the changing culture of the world and how people are looking at things differently. When our leaders go on apology tours and blame the United States for events of the past, she agrees that it undermines our ability to face down other countries or dictators. China is positioned to run over us. They already have a navy bigger than ours, and soon their entire military will be bigger than ours. If China doesn’t care about controlling the world, why are they building their military this way? The U.S. isn’t a bigger army. Our army’s half the size it was 20 years ago, but it’s better, more technological and can deliver a lot more firepower than other militaries. Unfortunately, however, you’re going to see that destroyed soon through defunding. Just as the Far Left is defunding the police (which has its own ramifications), they are taking measures to defund our military. These are not mentioned in her book, but it is worth noting anytime foreign policy is discussed.
I agree with her conclusions in this book…
We’ve got to fight for freedom for the world, and we should not honor people that don’t support freedom!
The book came out a little while ago, but I think it’s a great review of history if you don’t know anything about Nikki Haley and her background, a woman whose family came from India and has an impressive political career as governor of South Carolina, and most recently appointed as Ambassador to the United Nations. Her career is far from over as she has recently launched the Stand for America PAC ahead of her rumored 2024 presidential run.
In conclusion, I think it’s a book worth reading. I recommend getting the audiobook because she personally narrates her story and it’s a real treat. It will give you a lot of things to think about. It’s very thought-stimulating on many levels, including your own personal life and politics and how they integrate. I would give this book a four-star rating for sure.
