The US Is Making the World a More Dangerous Place
As Trump plots his erratic and divisive foreign policy, allies are scared and China and Russia are rejoicing.
Trump made an early exit from the G-7 summit.
Photographer: Suzanne Plunkett/Getty Images
A decade ago, in the middle of the so-called Forever Wars, I would dread coming into my office in the morning, fearing bad news from the International Security Force Afghanistan. As military commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, I was in charge of more than 150,000 US and international troops in daily combat. We had nearly 2,000 young men and women killed in action during my four years there, and the cause — again and again – was improvised explosive devices. The term “IED” continues to haunt my dreams.
As I have watched the first months of President Donald Trump’s administration interact with an often incredulous world — it was practically a cause for celebration that he left this week’s G-7 meeting (early) without causing a major diplomatic incident — that deadly acronym has come back to me. The emerging Trump Doctrine can accurately be described by a very different version of the letters IED.