Despite the bluster, Trump is articulating a bold vision of America’s role in the world. And it demands a serious response — not the snickering of D.C. elites.
By Rosa Brooks, FOREIGN POLICY
Oh, Donald, bless your heart! You keep on saying those wild and crazy things, the media keeps on snickering, and you just keep on blustering. A grateful nation thanks you. If you weren’t around, we’d probably have to talk about Ted Cruz instead, and that would be no fun at all.
But my editors here at Foreign Policy have asked me to get serious and write about what U.S. foreign policy would look like if the White House should ever sprout an enormous gold sign reading, “TRUMP.” This has not been a simple assignment, because there is a Trump for every possible policy position.
Where to start?
Well, if Donald Trump becomes president, we might have a nuclear war — or, then again, we might not. On the one hand, Trump tells us, “It’s a very scary nuclear world. Biggest problem, to me, in the world, is nuclear, and proliferation.” On the other hand, if Japan and South Korea decide to develop their own nuclear weapons, that’s probably fine, and we “may very well be better off.” On the third hand, “nuclear should be off the table,” when it comes to a potential U.S. first use of nuclear weapons. On the fourth hand, you never know: We might need to use nukes inside Europe, which would not be so sad because “Europe is a big place” and can easily afford to lose a few small nations to radioactive fallout.
Anyhoo. Let’s discuss NATO, which, admittedly, is not a very interesting subject. Trump “would support NATO,” but because he too feels that it is not interesting, he “would not care that much” whether or not Ukraine joins the alliance. “I don’t mind NATO per se,” he explains; it’s just “obsolete” and full of free-riders “ripping off the United State.” But que sera, sera! If getting rid of freeloaders “breaks up NATO, it breaks up NATO.” Still, perhaps the treaty organization can be “reconstituted” and “modernized.” He adds, “We need to either transition into terror, or we need something else, because we have to get countries together.” I don’t think Trump meant that NATO should transition into a terrorist organization — on the “fight fire with fire” principle — but who can say?
Moving right along: Under President Trump, the United States would show the terrorists who’s boss by bringing back waterboarding and “a hell of a lot worse.” He would also “bomb the hell out of ISIS,” and if that doesn’t do the trick, he would go after the wives and children of Islamic State fighters, because “with the terrorists, you have to take out their families.” Ordering the U.S. military to use torture or deliberately target civilians would, of course, be illegal, but the military would gladly obey any order coming from President Trump: “I’m a leader. I’ve always been a leader.… If I say do it, they’re going to do it.” On the fifth or sixth hand, maybe not: Trump swears that he’ll be “bound by laws, just like all Americans.”
Regardless, under President Trump, the U.S. military would be very strong, but it would never be used, unless we do use it. Right now, Trump confides, the U.S. military is “a disaster,” decimated and weak. When the White House is rebranded as the smallest of the world’s many Trump Towers, this will no longer be true; after a few waves of the Trumpian magic wand, which can cut budgets and expand programs at the same time, the military will be “so big, so powerful, so strong” that no one will dare mess with it. But the military will have to be satisfied with being big, powerful, and strong right here in the United States, because unless host states such as Japan and South Korea cough up a lot more cash, President Trump will be withdrawing U.S. troops from their overseas bases.
Besides, who cares? According to Trump, more or less every U.S. military intervention from Vietnam on has been a flop. Vietnam? A “disaster,” says his campaign. Iraq War? “Big, fat mistake.” Libya? “Total mess.” As for the Islamic State, Trump says “the generals” tell him it might take “20,000 to 30,000 troops” to “knock the hell out of ISIS,” but they ain’t gonna be American troops: instead, “People from that part of the world” will have to “put up the troops.… I wouldn’t ever put up 20,000 or 30,000.”
All right, enough. I could go on: Trump offers nearly endless fodder for media mockery. But I don’t want to keep poking fun at the Republican front-runner.
For one thing, it’s like shooting fish in a barrel. It’s like making fun of George W. Bush’s weird malapropisms: “They have miscalculated me as a leader.” It’s just too damn easy.
For another thing, there’s hardly a global shortage of anti-Trump tiradescoming from the Fourth Estate. NBC’s Andrea Mitchell declares Trump is “completely uneducated about any part of the world.” The Washington Post’s Eugene Robinson calls Trump’s “ignorance of government policy … breathtaking.” Tara Setmayer of CNN says Trump is “wholly unqualified” to be president, while the New York Times editorial board finds Trump “disturbing” and “shockingly ignorant.”
None of this does Trump any harm. On the contrary: Every time someone in the Media Elite pokes fun at Donald Trump, it inspires six bad-tempered middle Americans to vote for him.
None of this does Trump any harm. On the contrary: Every time someone in the Media Elite pokes fun at Donald Trump, it inspires six bad-tempered middle Americans to vote for him. And every time someone in the Media Elite utters a pompous condemnation of Trump’s ignorance and folly, 17 more angry Trump voters are created. If Trump becomes president, guys, it’s gonna be your fault.
And finally: Though it pains me to say it, Donald Trump is crazy like a fox. Despite the braggadocio, the bullying, and the bluster — despite the contradictions, misstatements, and near-total absence of actual facts — Trump is, to a great extent, nonetheless articulating a coherent vision of international relations and America’s role in the world.
David Sanger and Maggie Haberman capture it well in a summary of their lengthy New York Times interview with Trump: “In Mr. Trump’s worldview, the United States has become a diluted power, and the main mechanism by which he would re-establish its central role in the world is economic bargaining. He approached almost every current international conflict through the prism of a negotiation, even when he was imprecise about the strategic goals he sought.” The United States, Trump believes, has been “disrespected, mocked, and ripped off for many, many years by people that were smarter, shrewder, tougher. We were the big bully, but we were not smartly led. And we were … the big stupid bully, and we were systematically ripped off by everybody.”
Trump hasn’t the slightest objection to being perceived as a bully, but he doesn’t want to be ripped off. Thus, he says, he’d be willing to stop buying oil from the Saudis if they don’t get serious about fighting the Islamic State; limit China’s access to U.S. markets if Beijing continues its expansionist policies in the South China Sea; and discard America’s traditional alliance — from NATO to the Pacific — partners if they won’t pull their own weight.
To those who criticize his apparent contradictions, his vagueness about his ultimate strategic objectives, or his willingness to make public threats, he offers a simple and Machiavellian response: “We need unpredictability.” To Trump, an effective negotiator plays his cards close to his chest: He doesn’t let anyone know his true bottom line, and he always preserves his ability to make a credible bluff. (Here it is, from thetranscript of his conversation with the New York Times: “You know, if I win, I don’t want to be in a position where I’ve said I would or I wouldn’t [use force to resolve a particular dispute].… I wouldn’t want to say. I wouldn’t want them to know what my real thinking is.”)
Trump has little time for either neoconservatives or liberal interventionists; he thinks they allow their belief in American virtue to blind them to both America’s core interests and the limits of American power. He has even less time for multilateralist diplomats: They’re too willing to compromise, trading away American interests in exchange for platitudes about friendship and cooperation. And he has no time at all for those who consider long-standing U.S. alliances sacrosanct. To Trump, U.S. alliances, like potential business partners in a real-estate transaction, should always be asked: “What have you done for me lately?”
In his inimitable way, Trump is offering a powerful challenge to many of the core assumptions of Washington’s bipartisan foreign-policy elite. And if mainstream Democrats and Republicans want to counter Trump’s appeal, they need to get serious about explaining why his vision of the world isn’t appropriate — and they need to do so without merely falling back on tired clichés.
The clichés roll easily off the tongue: U.S. alliances and partnerships are vital. NATO is a critical component of U.S. security. Forward-deployed troops in Japan and South Korea are vital to assurance and deterrence. We need to maintain good relations with Saudi Arabia. And so on. How do we know these things? Because in Washington, everyone who’s anyone knows these things.
But this is pure intellectual and ideological laziness. Without more specificity, these truisms of the Washington foreign-policy elite are just pablum. Why, exactly, does the United States need to keep troops in Japan, or Germany, or Kuwait? Would the sky really fall if the United States had fewer forward-deployed troops? What contingencies are we preparing for? Who and what are we deterring, and how do we know if it’s working? Who are we trying to reassure? What are the financial and opportunity costs? Do the defense treaties and overseas bases that emerged after World War II still serve U.S. interests? Which interests? How? Does a U.S. alliance with the Saudis truly offer more benefits than costs? What bad things would happen if we shifted course, taking a less compromising stance toward “allies” who don’t offer much in return?
Questions like these are legitimate and important, and it’s reasonable for ordinary Americans to be dissatisfied by politicians and pundits who make no real effort to offer answers.
Trump’s vision of the world — and his conception of statecraft — isn’t one I much like, but it reflects a fairly coherent theory of international relations. It’s realist, transactional, and Machiavellian — and it demands a serious, thoughtful, and non-defensive response.
If those of us in the foreign-policy community can’t be bothered to offer one, a “TRUMP” sign on the White House may, in the end, be no better than we deserve.
Rosa Brooks is a law professor at Georgetown University and a Schwartz senior fellow at the New America Foundation. She served as a counselor to the U.S. defense undersecretary for policy from 2009 to 2011 and previously served as a senior advisor at the U.S. State Department.
http://www.breitbart.com/2016-presidential-race/2016/04/16/trump-13/
Trump Supporters Walk Out of Georgia Delegate Fight After Party Picks Cruz Supporter…’Uproar in the Hall’
@ Keli-A:
Taken credit for my articles again. This will cost you
@ Avigail:
Thankful your safe.
@ honeybee:
Just heard too. I’m not in J’lem, so I suppose I’m safe, but this is very, very bad news. Very bad.
@ Avigail:
Avigail are you safe ???? I just heard about the bus.
Avigail Said:
” What ever make you happy, tickles me plum to death ” Mrs Christianberry, Yancy, Texas.
@ bernard ross:
He is a vile scumbag… That said he works the system like a pro and shows he is as corrupted as the worst of them… conservative he aint but is a shrewd corrupt political insider just like the worst of them…. discount rhetoric and watch what and how they perform… He is now a Soros Lackey.
WATCH: Sanders – Obama Likes Israel Too Much
http://www.breitbart.com/jerusalem/2016/04/18/watch-sanders-obama-too-much-on-israels-side/
@ Keli-A:
Claro que si. I have a better Swedish accent then De Duva.And my meatballs are better then their meatballs.
@ honeybee:
Accurate and of course I’ve slept well last night. Probably better than the poster with his filthy manhole. I suppose I have to thank G-d for having none of my acquaintances willfully wallowing in the gutter just to win an argument on a talkback. Epic fail, btw. Thanks for caring, honey 🙂
@ honeybee:
So it’s official CNN just broke the news that Ted Cruz is buying delegates
http://endingthefed.com/so-its-official-cnn-just-broke-the-news-that-ted-cruz-is-buying-delegates.html
babushka Said:
Keli-A and Ross have defeated you with their undaunted mental prowess.
@ bernard ross:
Texas, CO and WY are all in the pocket of big Ag and Oil.
@ Avigail:
I worried about you. Did you get any rest last night. I assume you live in Israel and that you are religious. I know very few religious Jews, nominally religious, but not committedly religious. I have a second cousin who live J’lem and studies Torah. I think the family would be happier if he rob banks.
hush, “constitutional conservative” at work…. 😛 😛 😛
@ Keli-A:
everything she said is accurate.
Keli-A Said:
this and its accessories of Hb1 visa fraud plus open borders are the main drivers of the establishment who buys and instructs the role players in both parties. For them the other issues are red herrings to distract the fools on the street… the kind of things that the lumpen discuss.
With trillions to be made off the emerging consumption markets of India and China the western elites must scramble for their share or they will be left behind as anachronisms by the rising billionaires of the east. The super wealthy see the rest of the world as an annoyance to put up with to get their goods , services and protect them from the lumpen…. with robots they will no longer be dependent on the lumpen for their wealth or protection. An issue like Israel is a pain in their ass, something which interferes with their oil adventures.
babushka Said:
try to contain your perverse fantasies and desires, this is a family site.
Keli-A Said:
sure, why not, he stands for the same things as murdoch, rubio and even ted. TPP, HB1 visa frauds, muslim immigration, open borders…. but I think the main reason is to drain votes from Trump before the convention so Trump loses first ballot. They cant drain enough real votes to cruz as kasich voters would more likely vote for Trump. Cruz can only drain the back room delegate deals. Cruz, soros and murdoch have the same position on the main things… TPP, HB1 visa fraud, open borders. Only Trump wants to ban muslim immigration, which is a very important issue.
babushka Said:
the one who serially lies here is you… most of my time is spent pointing out your lies. I know that you know that they are lies, but you tell them without shame… a sociopath perhaps?
Perhaps you are projecting when you serially accuse others of lying when you serially lie?
babushka Said:
“AS ALWAYS” you intentionally tell lies….. you quoted back in feb when his boy rubio was still in the race… he has always been against Trump until he had to bow by sending his bimbo to beg Trump to lay off. Now Murdoch is hoping for cruz as his last hope before Hillary… TPP, NB1 visas, open borders… this is what murdoch wants which only trump is against. Cruz is another little boy to be instructed and spanked by his donors. Also, Murdoch swapped fox shares with the saudi prince and anything anti muslim is a no no. Also, Cruz being the enemy has nothing to do with you original comment that Murdoch always backed and supported Trump. You are a master of tricky and slimy deception… a smoke and mirrors man.
Try to avoid your chronic habit of telling fibs.. its a waste of time to keep pointing out your lies.
@ Keli-A:
He doesn’t seem to be, he is.
Have you ever heard of Subotai Bahadur? Best political junky around, IMHO. 50 years of caucusing in CO. However, his posts require more than 2s attention span and average comprehension level, which is above the pay grade of the other filthy poster here.
Here’s what happened in CO:
https://pjmedia.com/trending/2016/04/09/cruz-bags-at-least-21-more-delegates-in-colorado/#comment-2617293417
Then, answering to this operative’s deliberate disingenuous information,
http://ariarmstrong.com/2016/04/setting-the-record-straight-about-colorados-republican-caucus/
he goes into further details about the process in CO:
https://pjmedia.com/trending/2016/04/11/gop-should-nominate-chief-critic-cruz-republican-rise-relies-on-repentance/#comment-2620694822
The GOPe’s backroom deal gave the Delegates to Cruz, but they should have gone to Jeb or Rubio were they still in the race. They went to Cruz, short of another “solution”. Now who’s the Establishment candidate?
It is also interesting to note that DT or TC were both “acceptable choices” for Subotai B. Not anymore after what happened in CO.
Btw, he’s got very interesting posts about what may happen in the Convention. This one being one of them:
https://pjmedia.com/trending/2016/04/09/cruz-bags-at-least-21-more-delegates-in-colorado/#comment-2615115705
DEMOCRAT STRATEGIST: Bernie Supporters Will Cross Over to Vote for Trump Instead of Hillary (Video)</strong>
Judge Jeanine: The Establishment Wants to ‘Sabotage’ Trump and Is ‘In Bed with the Democrats’
http://insider.foxnews.com/2016/03/20/judge-jeanine-republican-establishment-wants-stop-trump-bed-democrats
Trump supporters kicked off ballot in Georgia
http://www.teaparty.org/uproar-trump-robbed-of-delegates-in-georgia-after-winning-state-158855/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=uproar-trump-robbed-of-delegates-in-georgia-after-winning-state
Just another ignorant, dishonest Trumptard cluelessly parroting lies. Despite the fanfare from your admirers on the site, you have turned out to be a mental midget unworthy of my time.
Good luck reasoning with these disgusting turds, Laura.
STOP THE STEAL MARCH ON CLEVELAND
Stumpin’ For Trump!
Make America Great Again!
bernard ross Said:
Trump led the salute to Israel parade in NY and made a promotional video supporting BB in last elections. BB repaid him by cancelling a meeting with Trump in Jerusalem due to PC pressure from American Joooos…. Notice many if not most of his closest associates are Jews and I haven’t heard any disgruntled employees of Trump complaining about him as an employer.
Trump seems to have been correct re: Colorado GOP insider dealings cutting out the Republican voters and their voices in the delegate choosing…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJBga7p3i3s
@ babushka:
Ah more Gibberish from a disgruntled Bandini investor who lost his teeth in last Bandini losing denture I mean ventures. Having a bad hair day babsie??
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKkazr8M-n4
bernard ross Said:
Trump translates into high ratings and that equals tens of millions of dollars. Kelly says she did it on her own without telling Roger Alles but that ties into rumors she might leave Fox next year when contract expires. Tioll her flap with Trump she was the queen of Fox ratings topping O’Riley and was positioned to write her own salary ticket but since Trump she and Fox have nosedived in ratings that’s the real power of Trump. She is planning a political special before the convention and needs Trump on board to ensure success it’s all business individual ambitions and bottom lines and in that world Trump calls the shots….
BTW did you know Soros is backing financially Kasich? Almost $400 was just injected into his campaign by Soros. Haley Barbour working for Soros trying to stack rules committee against both Cruz and Trump.
That phony conservative Cruz is aligning with the Republican establishment and knowing accepting crooked insider political manipulations all undemocratic in Colorado and other states shows were his real principles are. Nada is is a strong advocate for his wife’s pet Goldman Sacks supported and driven project TPP
Glad to be of service. It can’t be easy for you to sit straitjacketed in that wheelchair all day clad only in Depends undergarments as you stare at the wall drooling with saliva streaming off your chin like the rapids cascading over Niagara Falls, your mouth filled with what you mistakenly believe are false teeth that you purchased online from the Bandini Corporation.
Here is the 2/26/16 Murdoch tweet identifying Cruz as the enemy, so both Eva and her fellow Trumpling are provably wrong.
As always.
Not that it matters, because supporting Donald Trump means never having to say you’re lucid.
Accurate or not, it was an illiterate inversion. Insect wrote exactly the opposite of what it meant to convey. It meant that there is no limit to the depth of my depravity, but apparently command of the English language is not prioritized in the hive (doubtlessly a remedial hive for learning disabled Anthophila). Do not feel bad about failing to catch the literary malfeasance, Eva…likely the medication to control your bladder is to blame for your dementia.
apparently you dont pay attentions when reading posts because then you would notice that the recent endorsements are a result of Trump bringing Murdoch and his dog Megan Kelly to heel… the tried to bring him down but now have to arrive with cap in hand, as I already told you
bernard ross Said:
Didnt you notice that Megan went last week to Trump at Trump Towers to apologize to Trump in order to end his attacks on them. I think fox lost a lot of viewers… the burger king i go to once a week, which is the only time I watch TV or fox, had switched to CNN after years of Fox. Trump won, they lost, Trump demonstrated that he knows how to deal with folks and that his way WAS the successful way to deal with Murdoch and his attack Bimbos
@ babushka:
@ Avigail:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-p15AOlDhk
@ babushka:
I was the King of Nazi cheese cake-cinema and film noir.
I’m best known for the film “DE DUVA (The Dove)”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8X2QmLWWxq4
babushka Said:
I thought it rather quite accurate descriotion of you.
@ babushka:
You do have a penchant for believing anything in print then projecting your own interpretation to the text…. You know that all that is in print is not the truth?? Well you do now, I just told ya.
lol
God, you are a screw-up.
Speaking of lack of credibility, Eva, I notice that you post comments using the screen names of yamit82, Keli-A, and Avigail. I don’t really blame you, because with your lousy comments you need as many aliases as possible.
In fairness, you are a competent cinematographer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQUp-yJMcm8
@ honeybee:
Sad? Watching his rapid descent into madness is amusing to watch
babushka Said:
Sad !!!!!!!!!! There is no depth to your depravity.
@ Avigail:
We know what he does with his left hand 😛
You lied!
You said you were going to bed without reading any more of my drivel!
LIAR!!!
@ babushka:
A- two left wing internet rags little credibility. NY POst did endorse Trump with qualified support. The rest outside of the Post editorial quote had no oundation or direct support just speculation and unnamed sources.
B- Politico all over the place some favoring Trump in some manner and others condeming him but Media matters?// In the tank for Hitlery!! So they have an agenda.
I know you can do better, try finding a more neutral source, Danny/ Boychick!!! .
babushka Said:
But a useful insect.
@ babushka:
You are absolutely disgusting. How comforting is it to post filth safely hidden behind your screen? Are you typing with your right hand only? (spit)
That isn’t G-d. That is Bill Clint-n.
Sleep well, Forrest.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bw0MBr0Y5x0
@ babushka:
That’s called projection. Reread your drivel, idiot. Reread your pal’s posts, so unhinged that she can’t tell who’s posting what.
We are supposed to genuflex in front of Mike Bickle’s fan. I’m down on my knees before G-d only, and no, I don’t pretend I hear His voice in my head and know His will, like the bunch of nutcases I read here. That’s idolatry in my book.
Now it’s almost 3:00 am in Israel. I need my bed and read something else than your talkback crap. Bye, moron.
@ Avigail:
Me too 😀
Yes, you are. If not for the presence of the insect, you would occupy the pole position in the race to be official site dunce.
Since you are obviously an altacocker who is perilously near to the end, and apparently too feeble to use Google, here you go, Pops:
http://mediamatters.org/blog/2016/04/15/rupert-murdoch-s-ny-post-joins-national-enquirer-and-paper-owned-trump-s-son-law-endorsing-trump/209929
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/04/karl-rove-donald-trump-221926