My latest column at The National Interest online looks at the state of the Republican Party with regard to foreign policy. I'm not optimistic:
What would a Republican approach to foreign policy look like? Here’s another problem. The GOP was traditionally the party of realpolitik, but that has changed as of late. Realism and neoconservatism lead to divergent policy preferences on issues like Iraq, Afghanistan, Putin’s Russia and democracy promotion. It is difficult to mount a unified and loyal opposition when there is an absence of consensus about first principles. Politically, it will be difficult to for the GOP to pirouette from the Bush administration’s neoconservatism to a more modest foreign-policy strategy.
The concept of a “loyal opposition” is a difficult one to straddle. On the one hand, it is vital for Americans to be exposed to contrasting takes on the best way to advance American interests. Opposition forces the current leadership to defend and articulate their preferred course of action. On the other hand, opposition based on the principles of Joe the Plumber is simply not an opposition that can be taken seriously. Let’s hope the GOP can form a viable counterweight so that more foreign-policy opinions and valuable debates become a reality. Peanut-gallery snarkery will serve no one.
Let me add here that FP's own Shadow Government represents a welcome exception to the general lament that infuses my essay. As such, I dare their contributors to disabuse me of my pessimism.
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