How Many Different Countries Should the US Now Be Fixing, Changing, and Interfering In?

2 years ago
20.6K

In 2016, Donald Trump ran a campaign that denounced the foreign policy views of the establishment wings of both the Democratic and Republican Parties. Calling his perspective "America First," Trump insisted that it is not the role of the US to go around the world changing or "improving" the governments of other countries -- especially given how many unmet needs Americans have at home. This view had similarities with the long foreign policy view on the left called "anti-imperialism." Yet now, large numbers of supporters of each party seem eager to interfere in and alter the governments of a wide range of countries -- from Russia and Iran to China and Cuba to Venezuela and Qatar -- on top of all the countries the US is bombing, arming, funding or otherwise interfering in. Can any of this be reconciled with Trump's "America First" vision or the left's "anti-imperialism" principle? It is hard to see how.

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