Policy goals are one thing. Fulfilling them is another

It would be difficult to deny that Donald Trump ran for the presidency in 2016 by challenging the foreign policy consensus in Washington, DC - one that has been pursued by all his predecessors, has dominated the thinking on Capitol Hill and in government agencies, and which has brought together Democratic and Republican lawmakers, and liberal and conservative pundits.

That foreign policy consensus reflected a commitment to an internationalist foreign policy agenda and was based on the axiom that the United States has an obligation to maintain the international order, to deter rogue states and aggressors, and to spread its liberal-democratic values around the world.

Candidate Trump had blasted during his presidential campaign the decision by his Republican predecessor to invade Iraq and oust Saddam Hussein - a move backed by leading Democratic politicians - and pledged that under his presidency, there would not be any attempts to do regime changes and nation-building; he further said that he would commence a withdrawal of US troops from the Middle East and around the world and would be willing to make deals with unsavoury regimes as long as those served…