Presidents who believe in the greatness of America project that greatness in their foreign policy. They cultivate alliances with countries that share American values, confront adversaries that oppose them, and seek to advance our nation’s long-term strategic interests. So if a president believes that the values that made our country great — limited government, economic liberty, and self-reliance — are merely a recipe for what he calls “social Darwinism,” what would you expect his foreign policy to look like?
Traditional allies might get short shrift while adversaries found sympathy. Demonstrations of modesty in multilateral fora might lead to repeated embarrassments (as happened a few weeks ago when Russia and China again vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution on Syria). Grandiloquent catch phrases might take the place of a strong vision for the conduct of foreign policy. And policy might default to the inconsistent management of immediate crises, leaving history to shape itself quite heedless of the administration’s goals. So it has been under President Obama.
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