A Taxonomy of Foreign Policy Views

I’m a sucker for taxonomies and this one of foreign policy views by Ash Jain at Foreign Policy is no exception. Mr. Jain divides the spectrum of foreign policy thought into six “camps”:

Camp	Internationalist	Example
Unilateral	Yes	John Bolton
Democratic	Yes	Joe Biden
Realist	Yes	Henry Kissinger
Multilateral	Yes	Barack Obama
Retractor	No	Donald Trump
Restrainer	No	Bernie Sanders

I found his “camps” a bit jumbled—he probably needs more than one axis rather than just the internationalist to non-internationalist one. Is it actually possible to be “unilateral” and “internationalist” simultaneously? Similarly, are realists internationalists at all? Furthermore, I think that ascribing any policy to Donald Trump is a stretch. I think he is much more transactional than that. His classification of the late John McCain as a “democratic internationalist” ignores his stated views on American greatness. I think that any taxonomy of American foreign policy views that places John F. Kennedy, John McCain, Ronald Reagan, and Joe Biden in the same “camp” is puzzling.

For one thing I would place “multilateral” at one end of the spectrum and “unilateral” at the opposite end.

If I had to place myself into a “camp”, it would be realist. Here’s how he describes it:

• View great-power rivalry as inevitable in the global system and support U.S. alliances and active efforts to deter rival powers and maintain global order
• Are willing to engage adversaries and work with all nations, regardless of regime type, to advance strategic objectives
• Are prepared to make mutual accommodations with rivals, or seek to divide them, to achieve a stable balance of power
• Are inclined to “accept the world as it is” and are wary of U.S. intervention and democracy promotion efforts
• Support a strong U.S. defense posture and are willing to use force when required to defend vital national interests

I think that “realistic Jeffersonian” is actually a better description of me. Like Jefferson I think that the U. S. is an outlier and too great a reliance on international institutions will inevitably destroy what makes the United States the country it has been.