No president-elect in modern American history has talked less about America’s obligations to the rest of humanity. When it comes to foreign policy, Trump has two primary rhetorical modes. The first is transactional: America is being ripped off by other nations, and must cut better deals. The second is civilizational: America is part of the Judeo-Christian West, which is threatened by “radical Islam.” The former defines the world as a struggle between America and its trading partners. The latter defines the world as a struggle between civilizations. Neither mode suggests that promoting freedom for peoples of all nationalities, races, and religions serves America’s interest. Both are fundamentally zero-sum.
Trump’s aversion to speaking in missionary terms about America’s role in the world helped win him the Republican nomination. His establishment GOP rivals like Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush vowed to mimic Ronald Reagan, extending the frontiers of American power in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, and ostensibly liberating millions along the way. Trump realized that many ordinary Republicans found that prospect unappealing. In the wake of Afghanistan and Iraq, they doubted that America’s imperial exertions benefitted them. And to the extent they felt any obligation to people overseas, it was more civilizational than ideological. George W. Bush often described Al Qaeda as a threat to freedom in the Muslim world. Trump realized that Republican voters were less worried that ISIS would snuff out Middle Eastern democracy than that it would snuff out Middle Eastern Christians.
All of which creates a dilemma for Democrats. Now that Trump has overthrown the missionary class in his own party, what do they do?
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