"As bad as Trump's first six months have been, there are a number of major foreign-policy blunders he hasn’t made yet and for which we should therefore be grateful. Unfortunately, there are also signs he's contemplating several of them, and plunging ahead may look more tempting as his political fortunes erode. The more desperate he gets, the more he may be inclined to divert attention from his incompetence here at home by stirring up trouble somewhere else."

"...Trump still has at least three-plus years in office, and every day he spends there redefines the expectations for how presidents can or should behave. The real danger may not be the rapid slide into authoritarianism, but rather the possibility that a new generation of Americans — such as those unfortunate Boy Scouts — grows up thinking that it's perfectly OK for presidents to lie, to use the White House as a vehicle to advance their business interests while in office, to see the presidency as the employer of first resort for their unqualified relatives, and to believe that public servants are to be loyal not to the public interest or the Constitution but to whoever happens to be sitting in the Oval Office. That is the way American democracy is most likely to end: not with a bang, but a whimper."

"Instead of relying on U.S. guidance and (generally) supporting U.S. policy initiatives, states that lose confidence in America's competence will begin to hedge and make their own arrangements. They’ll do deals with each other and sometimes with countries that the United States regards as adversaries."

"If the past 25 years have taught us anything, it is that few foreign-policy problems can be solved simply by blowing things up. The United States is still unsurpassed at that sort of thing, but the real challenge is devising political solutions to conflicts once the guns have fallen silent. We've been singularly bad at this in recent decades, and Trump's disdain for diplomacy and efforts to gut the State Department will just impair us even more."

"Trump is easily seduced by foreigners who cater to his vanity — as his Saudi hosts clearly realized — but stroking the president's ego is not the same as contributing to the U.S. national interest."

"Instead of sowing doubt and rancor, Trump missed an opportunity to move transatlantic relations in a constructive direction. Instead of lecturing America's allies on meeting an arbitrary defense spending target of 2 percent of GDP, he should have given his blessing for a sustained, long-term effort to harmonize defense efforts and create a genuine European defense force."

"I don't really think Trump understands any of the underlying issues, but McMaster — who served for several years in Afghanistan and has the reputation of being an independent thinker — should. Here are five questions someone should ask McMaster about this new policy, along with some background to each one."

"The State Department would no doubt benefit from certain reforms. But putting America’s diplomats on a starvation diet is not the way to do it. Gutting the State Department will dissuade smart and ambitious people from entering diplomatic service and make it harder for those who remain to acquire the professional training they need as they rise in the ranks — something our more lavishly funded military does quite well."

Realists sees international politics as a deadly serious business, especially when dealing with critical regions and potential peer competitors. Realism focuses on preserving favorable balances of power, managing critical alliances adroitly, and above all acting in ways that allow both friends and foes to tailor their actions to ours. A country whose leader understood this wouldn't be relying on an understaffed State Department, an unqualified first daughter and son-in-law, and wouldn't be trying to manage key relations via an uncensored Twitter account. Trump’s approach to foreign policy would make a great sitcom, opéra bouffe, or a Marx Brothers movie, but it is both disastrous and demeaning for the United States.