Ending Our Forever Wars and Forward Thinking Foreign Policy for the 21st Century

Max served our country in uniform on active duty, in the National Guard where he serves as an Infantry officer, and most recently as Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Defense. Max has seen firsthand that the challenges facing our nation are no longer solely threats from rival nations, but also constitute threats of climate inaction, global terrorism, and foreign attacks on the sanctity of our democratic process. For that reason, Max absolutely supports America’s continued commitment to diplomatic alliances such as NATO, recognizing that our national security can only be ensured through robust American cooperation and leadership on the global and regional stage.

Max believes that American global leadership means embracing a foreign policy that puts our national values at its center. In Congress, Max fought for an end to the war in Yemen, an end to China’s treatment of the Uyghurs, and a careful withdrawal from Afghanistan. Max worked to uphold Congress’ sole authority to declare war, and worked to repeal and replace the Authorizations for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) in Afghanistan and Iraq, and ensure that any future armed conflicts are only undertaken with authorization from Congress. Max also supports American leadership through diplomatic and humanitarian assistance to nations in crisis, not only because it is the right thing to do but also because history has shown that when left unaddressed these crisis spots can become hotbeds of extremism and threats to the homeland.

As a New Yorker who lived through 9/11 and then fought to bring its perpetrators to justice, Max worked tirelessly to ensure that no terrorist ever threatens Americans again. He advocated for the greater integration of our national counterterrorism capabilities through the Counter Terrorism Advisory Board, worked to sanction Iranian-supported terror groups in Iraq, and forced Twitter to deplatform accounts used by Hamas and Hezbollah to foment terrorism around the world. Max also held social media companies to account for the terrorist content they allow on their platforms, pushing these companies to overhaul their policies for censoring violent conflict online.

Max is also a thought leader who first brought attention to the growing threat of violent domestic extremist groups who were responsible for numerous terrorist attacks in Poway, Pittsburg, El Paso, and others. Max spearheaded legislation identifying the threat of transnational white supremacist extremist networks to America and urged the Department of State to designate these groups as Foreign Terror Organizations. Thanks to Max’s work, many of these groups have since disbanded, and countries around the world have worked to disrupt and destroy their networks.

Lastly, Max understands that America’s foreign policy has significant economic implications here at home. We cannot sit back and allow nations like China to reap the benefits of a globalized economy at Americans’ expense. Whether it is stealing intellectual property, subsidizing industry, devaluing currency, or conducting active economic espionage, Max stands by the belief that America’s foreign policy must utilize all of the tools at its disposal to punish those nations who employ these harmful tactics. Lastly, Max believes that free trade agreements only work if they are also fair trade agreements and should only be agreed to if they truly benefit America’s workers and also have environmental protections. Partisan divisions cannot stand in the way of this progress, which is why Max actively fought for additional controls against Big Pharma in the NAFTA revision, and then ultimately supported the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement passage once these measures were included.