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Rex Tillerson’s Already Got Some Pretty Stark Positions On Foreign Policy Problems Facing America

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Saagar Enjeti White House Correspondent
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Rex Tillerson, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for U.S. secretary of state, has already outlined stark foreign policy positions while serving as CEO of Exxon Mobil.

The New Yorker noted Monday that Tillerson has essentially been running a “parallel quasi-state” as Exxon’s CEO, and “honed many of the day-to-day skills that a Secretary of State must exercise.” These skills include “absorbing complex political analysis, evaluating foreign leaders, attending ceremonial events, and negotiating with friends and adversaries.”

As Exxon’s CEO he has taken positions on hot-button U.S. foreign policy issues like Russia, Iraq, and Iran, and supporting free trade.

Russia:

Tillerson managed Exxon’s relationship with Russia since the late 1990’s before ascending to the post of CEO in 2006. He pioneered a major 2011 deal with Russia’s state owned oil company that allowed Exxon access to Russia’s Arctic oil reserves. The deal was expanded in 2013, earning Tillerson a medal of friendship from Russian President Vladimir Putin himself.

After Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, Tillerson publicly opposed U.S. and European Union sanctions on Russia saying in 2014 “we do not support sanctions, generally, because we don’t find them to be effective unless they are very well implemented comprehensively, and that’s a very hard thing to do.”

U.S. and EU sanctions, coupled with low global oil prices, have crippled the Russian economy since 2014. Russia’s economy contracted by 2% throughout 2015, and its currency nearly halved in value. If Trump and Tillerson support a removal of Russian sanctions while in office, it will likely put the U.S. at odds with some EU and NATO allies. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and several Baltic NATO allies, strongly support extending sanctions on Russia.

Iraq: 

Tillerson struck a major deal with the Kurdistan Regional Government in 2011, riling both the U.S. and Iraqi governments. Washington and Baghdad have strongly pushed back against Kurdish pursuits of an autonomous state within Iraq.

Exxon’s deal with the KRG breathed life into the Kurdish economy, and demonstrated its potential ability to economically function as a self-governing region. “Part of the process of building our region has to do, of course, with dealing with oil, signing contracts, negotiations with various countries,” Chief of Staff to Kurdistan’s president Fuad Hussein told Reuters in 2014.

“The more the Kurds have an independent source of income, especially from energy, the more it feeds into their desire to establish greater autonomy if not independence from Baghdad,” former U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford told Reuters.

Iraq’s Kurds have been a vital ally of the U.S. in the fight against the Islamic State. Some critics of President Barack Obama’s anti-ISIS strategy have advocated directly arming the Kurdish government, bypassing potential corruption within the Baghdad based federal government. Tillerson’s long experience with the Kurds could lend credence to that argument when Trump reviews U.S. strategy against ISIS in Iraq.

Iran: 

Tillerson’s general opposition to sanctions could put him at odds with Trump’s pledge to rip up the Iran deal. Tillerson appeared to support Exxon doing business with Iran under the renewed opportunities under the nuclear deal.

“We’ll wait and see if things open up for U.S. companies. We would certainly take a look because it’s a huge resource-owning country,” Tillerson declared in March 2016. The Iran nuclear deal is also signed by Russia, Britain, France, China, and Germany. The U.S. along with several other European countries have begun to re-engage economically with Iran. Boeing signed a multi-million dollar deal with Iran Air, to provide a brand new fleet of planes.

If Trump’s administration extricates the U.S. from the 2015 nuclear deal, the U.S. would like reimpose economic sanctions on Iran, closing opportunities for U.S. companies in Iran.

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