April 14, 2017

Isolationist who? Americans are more globalist than you might think.

By Kate Bateman

It is old news that, as a candidate, President Trump’s foreign policy rhetoric departed sharply — dangerously, many would say — from decades-old precepts about the role of the United States in the world. But what has received less attention is, does the new administration’s approach reflect the will of the American people?

The assumption seems to be that Trump voters want bellicose warnings to our foes and sharp elbows with our allies, sweeping reductions in foreign aid, a get-tough approach on trade deals, and an intensified military fight against ISIS. As the administration puts theory into practice, the foreign policy establishment worries that we, as a country, have turned a corner: that 70 years of domestic consensus on America as the leader of the free world, and on the importance of a rules-based international order, have come crashing down.

Not so fast. President Trump’s electoral victory was not the death-knell of the American public’s desire for U.S. global leadership, or for advancing our interests using all “three D’s”: defense, diplomacy, and development. To assume the contrary is to over-learn the lessons of last November.

Read the full article at The Hill.

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