Hi clo,
re credentials in foreign affairs: few do have them, so I don't think this is a criticism I'd level at the Republican party's candidates. Obama also had little foreign policy experience and yet he has done a stellar job in that regard.
The question I ask is - what general philosophy will they bring to the role of foreign relations?
Generally, the problem is that these candidates have a self-congratulatory view of the world: the US is a beacon for freedom; everyone loves America; America is the good guy and anyone America is against must therefore be the bad guy; the only way to deal with bad guys is with massive force, to punish them for their bad choices; American lives matter a lot, but foreign lives matter little; everyone wants to live like Americans do; thus, the key is to introduce American commercial culture and the locals will be happy; if local customs and US culture clash, the military will force local people to submit etc.
We know how that story ends.
It's a wonderfully naive species of reasoning. Yet you can see it is precisely the way these folks still think. It is for this reason that none of these candidates would run a successful foreign policy.
Once the naivety passes, as inevitably it will, the path of regression for such people is not to question the emotional elements of their approach: their sense that the way others see America is the same way the US sees itself. It is to double down on the force criterion. Damn it, if you don't want our McDonalds, we will crush your spirit. That's how you end up with a Cheney. Experienced. Cynical. Still wrong.
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