Tillerson trip all about terrorism

GENEVA—Through seven nations across three different parts of the world, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson devoted himself to his president’s overarching foreign policy mission: Defeating terrorism. His trip concluded Thursday with limited success.

In the Persian Gulf and Iraq, the top American diplomat sought to keep a region fracturing at the seams focused on defeating the Islamic State group and countering Iran. In Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, Tillerson addressed long-term plans for stabilizing an Afghan government besieged by the Taliban insurgency. In Switzerland, the former oil man dove back into the years-long drive to end Syria’s civil war, the origins of an IS threat that has spread worldwide.

All represented diplomatic moonshots. They remain so.

But for Tillerson, the journey from the Middle East to South Asia to Europe returned him to the mission he set out to do when he accepted President Donald Trump’s offer to be chief emissary of his “America First” international agenda. Instead of diplomacy, America’s attention on Tillerson in recent weeks has been almost entirely about reports that he called the president a “moron,” and speculation he might be the next top Trump aide to leave an administration beset by high-profile departures.

Speaking to reporters during his last stop in Geneva, Tillerson said he reviewed the trip and its objectives with Trump shortly before heading overseas. He said he and other Trump aides “develop the policy, the president approves it, and then it’s up to me.” This week, Tillerson noted in typical understatement, his efforts took him to several countries “still embroiled in significant conflict.”

Offering a grand vision of America’s role in the world, Tillerson said: “The United States will continue to provide global leadership, promote security, stability and prosperity for all people.” He then quickly pivoted to a more Trumpian theme about nations taking greater responsibility for their own problems, and international partners doing more to help.