Should we miss hypocritical idealism in American foreign policy?

Donald Trump practices a form of foreign policy without much in the way of high ideals. He’s nakedly transactional, speaks openly of stealing other countries’ oil, and has no time for the promotion of democracy or human rights around the world.

He’s a terrible president, but I kind of appreciate his frank casting of world affairs in national interest terms. It makes it straightforward to evaluate a question like: is the ongoing war with Iran serving the interests of the American people, or is it not?

My cohost Jerusalem Demsas says she misses liberal hypocrisy in world affairs. Her argument is that the upside of high standards, even if you don’t meet them, is that hopefully you try to hold yourself to them sometimes.

Soviet propaganda during the Cold War highlighted the contradiction between America’s stated liberal ideals of freedom and equality on the international stage and the reality of Jim Crow at home. This in turn helped set the stage for the Civil Rights Movement. She argues that even though American intervention abroad has been a mixed bag, it would be a mistake to throw the baby out with the bathwater, and the Trumpian turn has only exacerbated the worst aspects of American foreign policy.

I counter that it let’s us think more clearly about the real stakes of American military force and be realistic with ourselves about Americans’ very limited willingness to be genuinely motivated by concern for foreigners.

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Show notes:

• “Missing liberal hypocrisy,” Jerusalem’s article on foreign policy ideals that Matt reacted to: The Argument article

• Coverage of the United Arab Emirates funding militia groups in Sudan: The Guardian article, Council on Foreign Relations post

• Coverage of U.S. supporting Ethiopia as a Cold War ally instead of supporting Eritreans’ right of self-determination: Britannica page, UCLA article

• Coverage of British intervention of Sierra Leone: The Guardian article, DTIC case study

• Coverage of Kenya training Haitian police officers: NPR report, Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime analysis

• Coverage of Brazilian efforts to train Haitian police officers: The Rio Times article

• Oregon bill preempting Portland and other municipalities from enforcing affordable housing requirements on developers in many cases: Oregon State Legislature overview

• Cold War Civil Rights: Race and the Image of American Democracy, book by Mary Dudziak about how U.S. self-interest aligned with its ideals during the Civil Rights Movement: Goodreads page

• Coverage of money being spent on global public health programs after USAID was shuttered: The New York Times article

• Coverage of Libyan intervention costing over $1 billion: Council on Foreign Relations article, CNN article

• Why Nations Fail, book by Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson arguing that there are critical junctures in time where a country develops extractive or inclusive institutions: Goodreads page

• Peer review: “Easy A’s, Less Pay: The Long-Term Effects of Grade Inflation,” study by Jeffrey T. Denning, Rachel L. Nesbit, Nolan G. Pope, and Merrill Warnick: NBER working paper

• Coverage of Harvard limiting the number of A grades teachers can distribute: The Harvard Gazette article, Harvard Magazine article, Inside Higher Ed article

(Illustration by The Argument, image by XNY/Star Max via Getty)