“We ought not to pry into such secrets as relate to foreign affairs,” implored Sir William Yonge of his fellow Members of Parliament in 1743. Trump has eschewed the traditional rules of foreign policy to practice a novel form of foreign politicsIn this new global context, the boundaries between foreign and domestic have blurred. Trump’s election was a symptom of a foreign policy paradigm in terminal decline; his foreign politics a dark premonition of what might replace it. This is a platform of nostalgic denial: Restorers neither appreciate the fragility of Obama’s foreign policy victories, nor recognize his many failings. In this sense, the Restrainers ultimately defend the foreign policy paradigm, appealing to the more noble traditions of American diplomacy.

Source: The Guardian December 02, 2019 11:29 UTC