We need adults in the room, being thoughtful, pointing out, for instance, that withdrawing is not a form of strength, and only permits other countries (China) to fill the vacuum. The vote for DT was a nihilistic, anti-establishment moment from a demo that wants change but isn't willing to think about what kind of change.
Umm.... wasn't that almost literally Obama's position? Haven't other countries been filling the vacuum in? Doesn't it make a lot more sense to look at Trump's election precisely as a rejection of eight years of that idea? Aren't we supposed to be very afraid of Trump being a maniac with the nuclear button and using the US military to do crazy things?
Obama wasn't that long ago. I'm astonished at how quickly his policies and platforms have been memory-holed in the service of the need for today's claims.
Obama always had a muscular foreign policy based on the ability of the United States to bring its unique moral rightness and light into the world. We have always been at war with Eurasia.
Obama campaigned specifically on getting out of Iraq & Afghanistan. IIRC he was gung-ho on getting more involved in Pakistan. He authorized military operations in dozens of countries and didn't question the bipartisan consensus on foreign policy in any significant way
No, Obama simply wanted to shift from invasion to engagement.
Trump is purely an anti-establishment impulse (lubricated by racism, sexism, etc). To claim it's a reaction against Obama is to claim (ludicrously) that Obama == establishment.
Nothing has substantively changed yet. The United States has reaffirmed its support for NATO, for its Asian alliances, and it has rhetorically asserted itself with Iran and North Korea. Rumors of grand changes to US foreign policy may be greatly exaggerated. Don't confuse quips and press coverage for action.
So Trump spends a year giving Putin all the reason in the world to believe that he can destabilize the Baltics without worrying about war with the US, and we're supposed to trust that Russia will believe our current posturing instead?
Trump is pushing NATO countries to increase their spending so the US can decrease its expenditure. Full stop. He's left in-place thousands of forward deployed troops in Baltic states as a deterrent and confidence builder. This is a non-issue.
We need adults in the room, being thoughtful, pointing out, for instance, that withdrawing is not a form of strength, and only permits other countries (China) to fill the vacuum. The vote for DT was a nihilistic, anti-establishment moment from a demo that wants change but isn't willing to think about what kind of change.