GLENN: Forget the new Star Wars movie. If you were on social media yesterday while Trump unveiled his new National Security Strategy, all you’d need was a bowl of popcorn and you’d be set. The best commentary went down on Twitter with two sides clearly drawn. The dark side of the force: the nationalists, Trump supporters, and America First crowd. And the Light side: the globalists, Obama fanboys, and practically everyone in the media.
Obama called his National Security Strategy in 2015 a “rules-based international order.” Trump calls his “America First.” Globalists praised Obama for his rhetoric back then, and they’re eviscerating Trump’s today. I’m about to say something that might sound a little radical: politicians say politician type things… National Security Strategy rarely changes. Let’s stick with the Star Wars references for a second. The force isn’t inherently bad, but people DO occasionally do some pretty messed up stuff with it. Likewise, National Security hasn’t really changed much in the past 50 years, but occasionally a President does do something stupid.
Here’s a tip for the media pundits freaking out over the words “America” and “First.” 9 times out of 10, political rhetoric from a President regarding National Security doesn’t mean squat. Obama stated that he wanted to disengage US meddling in the world, and concentrate on a “rules-based international order.” That political speak mumbo jumbo didn’t stop him from continuing deployments to Afghanistan, helping to cause Libyan regime change, AND arming opposition forces to cause regime change in Syria. He wanted to “reset” relations with Russia, but he also supported the coup in Ukraine. Now, can you describe ANY of the above as “rules-based international order?” To the contrary, he looks more like he was breaking the rules and causing international DISORDER.
Let’s look at Trump. He’s spoken out against NATO, expressed an interest to be friends with Russia (kinda like Obama did), and threatened a trade war with half the planet. His tenure has been brief so far, but what have his actions really shown? Do they match the political speak? We’ve actually increased cooperation with NATO, relations with Russia are at an all time low, and NO trade wars have kicked off. In terms of Russia, the Ruskies were mentioned 25 times in this report. That makes them second to only China who was mentioned 33 times. Russia was called a threat throughout the entire brief. It also called for cooperation with Europe and a balance of power in the Middle East. Sounds kinda like “rules-based international order” doesn’t it?
After comparing actual action of both Obama and Trump, one seems a little less like the dark side, and the other doesn’t seem like he followed the Jedi code quite like everyone says he did. National Security is kinda like the force… it just is. US interests rarely change, just like every other country on the planet. It’s guided by rules and geopolitics, regardless of what the current President says to appeal to his base. Some leaders temporarily throw the force out of balance (Iraq, Libya, Ukraine), but US National Security Policy was the same yesterday, it’s the same today, and it won’t change much in the future.
