When it comes to foreign policy and the U.S. presidential campaign, everything seems to have turned upside down this year.
Neoconservative, Republican hawks, from Max Boot to Bill Kristol, are apoplectic over the rise of Donald Trump, particularly his lack of ardor for military intervention, his supposed opposition to the Iraq War, and his calls for the U.S to pull back from its global security responsibilities. Some, like Boot, have gone so far as to say they won’t vote for the GOP frontrunner, while others have suggested that Trump’s focus on burden-sharing and having U.S. allies take on more global responsibilities closely resembles President Barack Obama’s worldview.
On the other side of the aisle, left-wing supporters of Democratic candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders argue that Hillary Clinton is the real hawk in the race. If elected president, they suggest, she will be chomping at the bit to start new wars in the Middle East. Indeed, over the weekend, CNN anchor Jake Tapper suggested that Clinton was more of a hawk than many prominent Republicans.