Foreign Policy in America’s Interest: Realism, Nationalism, and the Next President
November 15, 2016 | 8:00am to 1:30pm | George Washington University | Washington, DC
Election 2016 has raised big questions about America’s role in the world. Donald Trump promises to pursue an unapologetic nationalism, yet he may be selective about military engagements. Hillary Clinton has the resume to be a foreign-policy president, yet she appears willing to launch foreign interventions in a way that is oddly consistent with longstanding neoconservative ideas about American primacy. Whatever the outcome of the contest, the rhetoric of these candidates has reshaped the post-9/11 ideological landscape—suggesting that whether Clinton or Trump, the 45th president will depart in significant ways from the liberal internationalism of Barack Obama.
Just a week after voters go to the polls this November, The American Conservative will gather leading scholars, journalists, and policy experts to discuss the future of U.S. foreign policy—and prospects for a return to realism—in the next White House. Building on successful gatherings of realists and conservative critics of interventionism in 2014 and 2015, this year’s conference will focus the new president’s agenda in light of a careful assessment of America’s national interest.
Panelists will discuss whether Clinton or Trump will be able to muster the political capital to change course from the status quo. If Clinton is elected, will she have a mandate to launch new wars of choice? Or will the continuing popularity of Trump’s “America First” approach restrain her interventionist tendencies?
Experts will also examine the future of the U.S. relationship with Russia, including the possibility of increased tensions over Ukraine and Syria. And with hawks likely to continue to demand an aggressive stance toward China—no matter who is president—others will consider how realists can argue for alternatives to escalation in Asia.