The Bulwark

A Foreign Policy Election—William Kristol

Events this election year have often called to mind Lenin’s apocryphal remark: “There are decades when nothing happens; and there are weeks when decades happen.” Events these past few days have also called to mind the perhaps equally apocryphal remark of his comrade, Leon Trotsky: “You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you.”

It’s obvious that, from Europe to the Middle East and perhaps beyond, we’re living in a world of wars or potential wars. It’s also obvious that dealing with the challenges of such a world will have to be a major focus of the next American president.

But, we’re often told, American voters aren’t very interested in wars or potential wars abroad. We vote on inflation, or immigration, or abortion. Foreign policy isn’t our thing.