What should U.S. foreign and national security policyBefore look like when sanity returns in 2029?

2. Drive a stake deep through the heart of American Exceptionalism. In fact, let’s take advantage of the fact that our policies are going to require a big reset to do a complete attitude make-over for the U.S.. Dominating the world, arguing that there is one set of rules for everyone else and another for us, considering anyone who competes with us to be an enemy has got to go. Let’s try to lead by example. Let’s recognize that we are part of a global community and that a key element of leadership within that community is persuading others to follow…but that another key element is not feeling like we need to get involved everywhere or have the last word on everything. Let’s have clearly defined U.S. national interests but recognize that partnership rather than bullying is a better way to advance them.
3. That’s going to mean not just promoting core U.S. values (the ones this administration has dropped—like democracy and the rule of law, a respect for human rights, etc.) but actually walking the talk. If we want an international community in which the rule of law is used to promote fairness and reduce conflict, we have to agree to be bound by those laws. Yes, that means accepting the decisions of international organizations. It means joining the International Criminal Court and being bound by its decisions. It means recognizing that the best and lowest cost way of preserving our sovereignty and reducing international conflict is by…gulp…actually ceding a little national sovereignty upward to international organizations. It’s an investment that may be hard for some nationalists and other troglodytes to swallow but it leads to a better path for international harmony and dispute resolution than all the ways we have tried so far.