State of Maine Archives: on Foreign Policy
Chris Lyons:
Oppose American Exceptionalism
Q: Do you support or oppose the statement, "Support American Exceptionalism"?
A: oppose
Source: OnTheIssues interview of 2018 Maine Senate candidate
Mar 6, 2018
Eliot Cutler:
China's future is like America in 1890s: booming and growing
Q: Did your experience living in China give you any ideas about strengthening the ties between that country and Maine?A: Yes! I'm working with the Bangor Chinese School and the University of Maine at Farmington. They both want to bring to Maine a
Confucius Institute, which is a Chinese-sponsored program that promotes language and culture.
Q: And are there lessons to take away from China as well?
A: Yes. It's a resource-constrained country of 1.3 billion people. Much of China is desert, and
desertification is a big, growing problem. Beijing is a city of 18 million people, and it's going to go dry. But there's palpable confidence and excitement. Have you ever wished you had a time machine and could experience living in the US in the 1890s or
1920, when we were booming and growing? Here's an opportunity to see what it must have been like. Having a sense of that again and seeing how much difference that can make in people's lives, and in a country's life, is an important lesson to bring home.
Source: Maine Magazine on 2014 Maine governor race
Jul 1, 2014
Eric Brakey:
Crazy that we have our troops in 177 different countries
On foreign policy: "The interesting thing is, as a liberty Republican, I'm also with the Democrats on some issues, the Republicans on some issues, and sometimes I'm by myself completely, but it tends to be the exact opposite of the issues,"
Brakey explained. "When it comes to foreign policy, I want us to be realistic. I think that it's crazy that we have our troops in 177 different countries, that we're in Afghanistan 16 years later, when the youngest soldiers currently going in there were
two years old when we went in there in the first place."Brakey has certainly put his chips in the center of the table; as a Maine representative on the Republican National Committee National Platform Convention in Cleveland last year, he supported
unsuccessful condemnations of the intervention in Libya and a resolution calling the deposition of Middle Eastern dictators a failed policy. Where others talk the talk, Brakey has gone out on a limb to uphold and represent his values on the main stage.
Source: Washington Examiner on 2018 Maine Senate race
Dec 7, 2017
Eric Brakey:
Deposing secular dictators in Mid-East empowers our enemies
Eric Brakey, a member of the 112-person panel tasked with drafting the official Republican Party platform, sought to make part of the platform more simpatico with Donald Trump.Brakey proposed to condemn the Obama administration's intervention in
Libya and blame it for destabilizing the region and empowering the Islamic State. "The deposing of secular dictators in the Middle East empowers our enemies," his text read. "We oppose the continuing of this failed practice."
Defending his views,
Brakey summoned Trump: "Even our presumptive nominee acknowledges that the decision to take out the secular dictator in Iraq was a mistake," he noted. But other delegates said they didn't like the idea of the GOP "defending evil dictators."
That amendment was defeated, as were several other Brakey proposals aimed at turning the party in a less interventionist direction. Delegates declined to soften the party's stance toward Russia, or to categorically condemn foreign aid.
Source: The Atlantic magazine on 2018 Maine Senate race
Jul 14, 2016
Shenna Bellows:
Served for two years in Peace Corps, in Panama
In 2001 and 2002, Bellows was a Program Associate at Community IMPACT! in Nashville, TN, launching neighborhood-based, youth-centered programming in economically and racially diverse neighborhoods. From 1999 to 2001 she served in the
Peace Corps in Panama, where she facilitated the development and execution of a micro-credit lending program for artisan groups and also served as the Co-President of Women in Development/Gender and Development.
From 1997 to 1999 Bellows worked as a researcher and recruiter for Economists Incorporated, a privately held economic consulting firm specializing in microeconomic analysis in antitrust, regulatory and legal contexts in Washington, DC.
Bellows graduated magna cum laude from Middlebury College in Vermont with a degree in International Politics and Economics. She grew up in Hancock, Maine.
Source: Maine Humanities Council biography, mainehumanities.org
Nov 14, 2013
Susan Rice:
Didn't want to be pigeonholed as "black working on Africa"
I was concerned, at not quite 28, that as an African American woman entering the field of national security and foreign policy, that if I accepted a job in African policy without having demonstrated my ability to work on a wider range of issues,
I feared, I think legitimately, that I might get pigeonholed in Africa. That people in this predominantly white national security establishment would see me as black working on Africa -- and therefore not capable of, or suited to do, anything else.
Source: National Public Radio on 2020 Maine Senate race
Oct 7, 2019
Zak Ringelstein:
America is best when working for global peace & partnerships
The United States is strongest and safest when we are a force for peace and partnership around the globe. We cannot be fooled by jingoistic language such as "America First," meant to appeal to our darkest emotions and increase defense company profit by
way of the military industrial complex. It is our moral imperative to not give into the calls of profit-seeking fear mongers, but instead serve as a role model for human rights, prosperity, freedom, cooperation, and economic justice.
Source: 2018 Me. Senate campaign website, RingelsteinForMaine.com
Jun 26, 2018
David Costello:
Expand military and intelligence gathering alliances
David will help in bolstering national security by supporting efforts to:- Maintain military and intelligence gathering superiority over all potential rivals, especially China and Russia.
- Expand military and intelligence gathering alliances.
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Strengthen trade and foreign policy agencies and agreements.
- Become more fully, intelligently, and responsibly engaged in world affairs.
- Boost our nation's overall global economic competitiveness.
Source: 2024 Maine Senate campaign website CostelloForSenate.com
Jul 24, 2023
David Costello:
Engage more fully and responsibly in world affairs
David will help in bolstering national security by supporting efforts to:- Maintain military and intelligence gathering superiority over all potential rivals, especially China and Russia.
-
Expand military and intelligence gathering alliances.
- Become more fully, intelligently, and responsibly engaged in world affairs.
Source: 2024 Maine Senate campaign website CostelloForSenate.com
Feb 27, 2024
Demi Kouzounas:
China planned pandemic to harm Trump's re-election
Days after former Pres. Donald Trump lost in 2020, Kouzounas said on conservative talk radio that the pandemic was a plan hatched by the Chinese government to harm Trump's re-election chances — a conspiracy started by Trump's hardcore supporters.
In another radio interview months later, Kouzounas referred to Jan. 6 Capitol rioters as "our people" and again veered into conspiracy theorizing about the riot being a plot to entrap Trump supporters.
Source: Maine Beacon on 2024 Maine Senate race
Jan 22, 2024
Janet Mills:
Maine stands in solidarity with the people of Ukraine
[Maine Governor's office Press release]: "Maine stands in solidarity with the people of Ukraine in the face of this abhorrent, unprovoked assault on their country, their freedom, and their lives," said Governor Janet Mills. "I ask
Maine people to join with me in expressing our support for Ukraine, for its people, and especially for our fellow Mainers with Ukrainian roots who are deeply worried about the safety and welfare of their loved ones right now."
Source: Governor press release "Ukraine" on 2026 Maine Governor race
Feb 28, 2022
Page last updated: Feb 07, 2026