The Foreign Policy of the City of New York

Much of foreign policy is words, so there is no reason why a prominent local politician cannot contribute to it. And there is no more prominent “local” politician than the mayor of New York City. Local is in quotes above since there is nothing local about NYC. It is global in composition, in cultural and economic reach.

A Muslim mayor of NYC with a strong grasp of the plight of Palestine and anti-antisemitic credentials could prove to be epic in U.S. foreign policy. The chief constraint is the difficulty of addressing the myriad problems of the city itself, starting with affordability. Mamdani would not be forgiven for neglecting the so-called kitchen table issues of New Yorkers for the sake of righteous rhetoric about the Mideast. His work is cut out for him, but success on the homefront would project any such rhetoric further.

The inescapably Jewish Senator Bernie Sanders has shut down a good bit of the antisemitism slurs routinely thrown at left politicians, in a way that English pol Jeremy Corbyn could not. Mamdani could be the icing on the cake, modeling universalist, liberal values unfairly not ordinarily associated with Muslims. Normality is his super-power.

We see plenty of that in Northern Virginia, where South Asians are ubiquitous in local politics. They’re very good at politics, but they are unknown beyond the state. The mayor of NYC is a different deal.

Of unquestionable value to Mamdani is the foil provided by the deranged ramblings of the president and his coterie of grotesque followers. Mamdani will be able to make clear who are the true antisemites.

The other tantalizing potential about Mamdani is his ability to lead insurgency within the Democratic Party, founded on his appeal to younger voters who do not share the usual neuroses about Israel. Once elected in November, he should sit down with David Hogg and join the anti-gerontocracy campaign. He could also get about reforming the Democratic Party of New York state, a cesspool of sclerosis. The state needs a new governor.

Mamdani has been a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. This is another organization with potential that needs a house-cleaning. Drive out the un-democratic socialists presently in leadership and disclaim any pretense of being a “cadre candidate.”

I should explain that assorted juveniles in DSA are under the delusion that they can or should dictate policy to elected officials that they have supported. To the contrary, any notion that a candidate for office is under the discipline of some clutch of characters that nobody has ever heard of would be an electoral kiss of death and betrays a fatal misunderstanding of elementary politics. One example of this ignorance is the practice of vetting candidates who might seek the endorsement of a DSA chapter, complete with questionnaires.

The struggle for accountability rests on the mistaken analysis that character flaws in politicians, if not corruption, lead them to sell out the Movement. What politicians are really good at, however, is understanding the desires of their constituents. Rallying the grassroots is what keeps them honest, not interrogations in closed-door proceedings.

The correct posture of activists towards electeds is conversation and negotiation. Each have something to offer the other. The electeds can provide exposure and support for reform. The activists have resources to support the elected, support they continue to need after election, not just before. The lifeblood of this relationship is a stew of transactions: you do this and we will do that. It does not match up well with maximalist demands favored by excitable boyz.

Alienating Mamdani, as DSA has done with Bernie and AOC, is a sure-fire road to oblivion for DSA, but at the same time the push-back could put it on the road to further victories. Imagine a country where most of the big cities are run by socialists, where the goons in ICE would have to be wary of the local police.

You may say that I’m a dreamer, but dreamers are busy electing the fucking mayor of fucking New York City.