Here are the central tenets of Trump’s foreign policy:
- The only things that matter are money and military power.
- Values, international law, and international institutions are for chumps.
- The quality of America’s relationship with any given foreign country is measured by the size of its trade surplus or deficit.
- America has no permanent friends. “Allies” who run a large trade surplus with us are using “shared values” as a weapon to rip us off. They’re every bit as bad as our traditional foes. Use tariffs and sanctions to keep them in line.
- History is made by great men, so the solution to most problems is personal negotiations.
- Strongmen, particularly of the right-wing variety, are more reliable allies than genuine democrats, because they guarantee stability.
- Nation-building is a hideously expensive fool’s errand.
- If your military is going to protect another country, make sure you’re paid handsomely for it.
Like Trump (and unlike Obama), Bernie Sanders doesn’t believe in the Pax Americana. However, the only item on this list with which he would agree is #7. Sanders believes that America should cut its defense budget dramatically and rely exclusively on diplomacy, moral example, and, where absolutely necessary, economic sanctions to solve international problems. He identifies the right-wing illiberal democrats and strongmen so adored by Trump as part of an axis of autocrats that should be opposed by an international movement of social democrats. He would, therefore, increase the number of America’s enemies, without providing any additional means to fight them.
Trump’s anachronistic pseudo-realism has been a disaster for America. Sanders’ extreme idealism would just be a different kind of disaster.