Hillary Clinton Warns the World About Donald Trump - The Atlantic

The Democratic presidential frontrunner calls her Republican rival’s ideas “dangerously incoherent” in a sweeping foreign-policy speech.
The speech marks a dramatic escalation of Clinton’s attacks against Trump, a sign that the Democratic frontrunner is increasingly turning attention toward the general election even as her primary fight against Bernie Sanders drags on. It makes sense that Clinton would point to her foreign policy credentials to argue that she is better prepared to serve as commander-in-chief. But it remains unclear whether voters want a candidate, like Clinton, who can deploy careful, nuanced national-security arguments, or if they prefer a candidate, like Trump, whose approach to foreign policy frequently appears to be grounded in gut instinct.

During her speech, Clinton portrayed Trump’s foreign policy as dangerous and divisive. She denounced the Republican candidate’s criticism of the NATO alliance, his suggestions that it would be acceptable to kill the family members of terrorists, his remarks that it might not “be a bad thing” if Japan acquired nuclear weapons, and his call for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on.” “A Trump presidency would embolden ISIS,” Clinton declared, since his proposed Muslim ban “alienates the very countries we need to help us win in this fight.” She decried “Donald’s bizarre fascination with dictators and strongmen who have no love for America,” saying she would “leave it to the psychiatrists to explain his affection for tyrants.”

The differences between Clinton and Trump’s approaches to foreign policy are vast. Clinton is likely to represent a departure by degree from the status quo under President Obama, while Trump has advocated action that could dramatically alter the way the U.S. engages with the rest of the world. “Clinton is more hawkish than the average Democrat and more inclined to use military force, but she is likely to be more interventionist in a narrow range of potential scenarios compared to Trump,” said Elizabeth Saunders, a political science professor at George Washington University. “Trump is sometimes portrayed as more restrained because he has an isolationist streak, but if he used force it might happen in a more extreme and unpredictable way.” 

The question is whether Clinton’s case against Trump will sway voters. Focusing on foreign policy could help Clinton appeal to Americans who fear the prospect of a Trump presidency, and the ways it might imperil national security.-  Read More 

Hillary Clinton Warns the World About Donald Trump

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