Ralph Farrow: Trumpian foreign policy will teach the West and UK Conservatives a lesson

Ralph Farrow is an A-Level Student studying History, Geography and Economics. 

The re-election of Donald Trump was the most significant political event of my lifetime. His comeback dwarfs any competitor for this title, namely Richard Nixon arising to win in 1968 after losing in 1960. The supposed nightmare that left-wingers triumphantly defeated 4 years ago has been reawakened.

Yet, his victory is dually unsurprising.

It is not shocking that a cohort of the American public dismissed as ‘garbage’ and so greatly damaged by a grotesquely incompetent administration thoroughly rejected the woman who represented more of the same. The move to present Kamala Harris as the change candidate and embodiment of joy – to conceal her proclivity to veer to the radical left – was predictably disastrous for the Democrats.

On the other side, Trump’s supporters transcended all ethnic, socio-economic and age-related barriers. He crafted an electoral coalition that no living Republican has been able to. The intersectional political theory that had governed the Democrats from 2012 onwards had been inverted.

This was achieved because the President-Elect created a political message littered with talk of revitalisation and hope of restoring America to its former glory. The skill of tapping into the truthful belief that the United States had dwindled under the Biden-Harris administration is one which Trump effectively utilised.

To the delight of many, Trump’s stunning re-election has been able to enrage all the right people: the usual suspects at MSNBC and CNN to Late Night Hosts to the broader cultural elite. They loathe the very idea that the American people have chosen somebody who desires a strong America at home and abroad.

This brings us onto the idea of Trump’s foreign policy.

Recent years have solidified a decline in the influence of the United Kingdom and the United States. The overexploitation of the peace dividend and general weakness in leadership has led us to a dangerous norm.

The direction of the West is also pointing this way. We are in a state of permanent confusion. Our nations are so preoccupied with re-examining historical ills and falling into the traps set by the radical left that we harbour an inability to project strength.

This is not a new concept: strength is what won us the Cold War. It was President Reagan that understood the meaning of the phrase ‘Peace through Strength.’ His keenness to massively increase defence spending and rhetorically rattle the Soviet Union created a significant feeling of inferiority. The Soviets were forced to the negotiating table, and Reagan only joined them once he knew that he was negotiating from a position of superiority.

Trump is inheriting a situation from Biden that is similar to the one Reagan received from Jimmy Carter.

Under Biden, US foreign policy has been relegated to whispering ‘Don’t’ into the microphone to America’s enemies and the punishing of allies when they are actually fighting wars in service of American interests. The cataclysmic withdrawal from Afghanistan, which left thirteen US soldiers dead and the Taliban hundreds of millions in military equipment, displayed an appealing message of vulnerability to the likes of Russia and China.

The personal image of the President also feeds into this. When our foes look at Biden, they see what everyone else has long seen: a bumbling analogue politician that has been on the wrong side of vital foreign policy questions his entire life.

Trump’s foreign policy is as much personal as it is strategic.

His plan to restrict Iranian capabilities through heavy-handed sanctions, fully endorse Israel’s eradication of Iranian proxies, compel NATO members to actually meet their defence pledges and provide Ukraine with a tangible offramp is a welcome marked improvement. The image of Trump – his unpredictability, unconventional style, commitment to American success and fiery appearance – additionally helps to instil fear into enemies that Biden or Harris could not manage to.

Critically, Trump understands what ‘Peace Through Strength’ actually means. It is the deterrence of foes through the realistic threat of crushing force. In defiance of critics, Trump’s program is perhaps the closest in raw policy terms to the Reagan years.

There is a lesson for us Conservatives here to learn. We must retrieve the torch and advocate for ‘Peace Through Strength.’ Providing a compelling answer surrounding its past success and explaining the ramifications on people’s lives if we get this wrong will bring people towards our side.

If the leadership at the top of our party ignores this and falls short of trying to implement this ideal, we become David Lammy with a blue rosette on.

Thankfully, it appears that Kemi Badenoch is making the necessary changes on this front, providing us with the potential to look at the global scene through the same eyes as Reagan did in the 1980s.

In a time where most can feel the tremors of a destabilising and uncertain world, we as a party have an opportunity to listen and make this a key component of future campaigns.

If Donald Trump can do it, why can’t we?

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