(This is the first installment of a new feature: Foreign Policy Friday. It will replace Fiorina Fridays, which have become pointless).
As I have indicated in previous posts, the personality of the individual candidate is a better guide to his approach to foreign policy than his party affiliation: hence, Bernie Sanders and Rand Paul can sound pretty similar on Syria. That said, there are two areas in which the principal GOP candidates all broadly agree that set them apart from the current administration and the two significant Democratic candidates:
1. The rhetoric will change: quiet reserve will be replaced by trash-talking. All of the major GOP candidates can be expected to spout bromides about how great and powerful America is on a regular basis. While my natural reaction to this is to recoil, I have to admit there can be some advantages to it; adding an element of arrogance and unpredictability can help you get your way at times. On the other hand, it will unquestionably create friction with our allies, and Americans in general will be viewed as reactionary, irresponsible cowboys throughout the world again.
2. There will be substantial increases in the defense budget. We spend as much on defense as the next five nations combined, and there is no practical nexus between the size of our military and our difficulty in dealing with Syria and Ukraine, but the GOP believes that defense cuts that they accepted in the sequester deal have rendered us a pitiful, helpless giant, so major increases there must be. They won’t have any significant impact on our ability to address the current crises, but if the underlying plan is to become the world’s policeman, the additional funds probably are necessary. That is a topic for another day.