*THIS* post perfectly encapsulates the decadence and degeneracy of the contemporary US foreign policy establishment. In this view, a US Secretary of State is only *supposed* to travel to NATO capitals because a successful US foreign policy is what makes diplomatic counterparts in Paris, Berlin, and Brussels raise a champagne toast to “shared values” while flinging open their borders and destroying their economies. God forbid a US Secretary of State show his face in Bogotá, Quito, or Lima because that’s where mere “Assistant Secretaries” are supposed to tread. This smug approach led not only to predictably catastrophic results in the Western Hemisphere but also in Europe itself, where the combination of moral vanity and strategic incoherence also proved toxic. But sure: keep holding your academic seminars, writing your unread articles, awarding each other meaningless prizes, and looking down your noses at Donald Trump and Marco Rubio.

*THIS* post perfectly encapsulates the decadence and degeneracy of the contemporary US foreign policy establishment. In this view, a US Secretary of State is only *supposed* to travel to NATO capitals because a successful US foreign policy is what makes diplomatic counterparts in Paris, Berlin, and Brussels raise a champagne toast to “shared values” while flinging open their borders, destroying their economies, and apologizing for Western civilization. God forbid a US Secretary of State show his face in Bogotá, Quito, or Lima because that’s where mere “Assistant Secretaries” are supposed to tread. This smug approach led not only to predictably catastrophic results in the Western Hemisphere but also in Europe itself, where the combination of moral vanity and strategic incoherence also proved toxic. But sure: keep holding your academic seminars, writing your unread articles, awarding each other meaningless prizes, and looking down your noses at Donald Trump and Marco Rubio.