For a long time, there's been a powerful strain of "magical thinking" about foreign & defense policy on the US right. This got a new lease on life with the early stages of the Ukraine war. As reality is setting in there, we need to dispense with this and be super realistic. 1/
What do I mean? We will eliminate Russia as a rival power or transform it into a democracy by doughty Ukraine's prowess. We will democratize and stabilize the Middle East by overthrowing Saddam Hussein. We will make America invulnerable by missile defense. 2/
None of this is actually conservative. It's magical thinking to think we can "solve" or "eliminate" deep structural challenges just by will & the application of power. We need to root our foreign policy now in a sober assessment of the world & what Americans need to do in it. 3/
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