Trump’s Liberal Nationalism vs. Obama’s Socialist Internationalism, by Joel Pollack.

President Donald Trump’s address in Warsaw on Thursday made a clean break with the foreign policy philosophy of his predecessor — and translated the principle of “America first” into an inclusive doctrine of international affairs. …

The Warsaw speech was less about particular nations and more a call to arms in defense of western civilization as a whole. …

The contrast to President Barack Obama’s speech in Prague eight years ago could not have been more stark. …

In his Prague speech, President Obama described an “interconnected” world, where the major challenges were “a global economy in crisis, a changing climate, the persistent dangers of old conflicts, new threats and the spread of catastrophic weapons.” … Obama concluded by denouncing nationalism as “cowardly” …

Obama’s approach is often referred to as “liberal internationalism,” but a better description would be “socialist internationalism,” because Obama’s global goals depended on Americans limiting our own wealth and freedom, not on spreading liberty to distant lands.

For Obama, reaffirming the “shared values” of humanity often meant stooping to the lowest common denominator, even compromising freedom of expression to appease Islamic taboos.

In Trump’s vision, national identity does not preclude international cooperation. In fact, for Trump, strong nations are the prerequisite for the survival of liberty. … Trump stressed tradition and faith — but described them as incubators of liberty, rather than as obstacles to it. It is only when nations honor freedom and defend it, he suggested, that peace and prosperity prevail in the world.

hat-tip Scott of the Pacific