Bannon may have written the come-home-America inaugural address. But it was the old hands, Trump’s traditionally internationalist foreign-policy team, led by Defense Secretary James Mattis and national-security adviser H. R. McMaster, who rewrote the script with the Syria strike.
Assad violated the international taboo on chemical weapons. Who would enforce it, if not us? Candidate Trump would have replied: None of our business. President Trump brought out the Tomahawks.
His foreign policy has gone from mere homeland protection to defending certain interests, values, and strategic assets abroad. These endure over time. Hence the fundamental continuity of our post–World War II engagement abroad.
With apologies to Lord Palmerston, we don’t have permanent enthusiasms, but we do have permanent interests. And they have a way of asserting themselves. Which is why Bannonism is in eclipse.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member