Can Rand Paul revive conservative foreign policy?

For the first time in memory, a libertarian, noninterventionist conservative has triumphed over the GOP's hawkish mainstream. That's something every American should celebrate.

Daniel Larison

Rand Paul’s victory on May 18 was a political triumph for a rare Republican candidate who supports a foreign policy of limits and restraint. Foreign policy did not decide the Republican Senate primary in Kentucky, which Rand won easily. But this is the first time in memory that a Republican champion of a non-interventionist, Jeffersonian approach to international alliances and foreign wars has won a significant victory. After a decade in which the Republican Party defined itself by its attachment to the Iraq war and to illegal detention, interrogation and surveillance policies, the resounding success of a strongly libertarian, antiwar candidate is an encouraging sign for the future of American conservatism.

That Kentucky Republicans -- angry over bailouts, government expansion and steep public debt -- were receptive to Paul’s libertarian, small-government message is no surprise. But the GOP establishment was shocked to learn that Paul’s foreign policy and national security positions were not deal-breakers. In his 2008 presidential run, Paul’s father, Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, encountered deep hostility from Republican regulars when he criticized the war in Iraq and opposed Washington’s hegemonic ambitions around the world. Just two years ago, it seemed unthinkable that Paul’s admittedly radical constitutionalism and noninterventionist foreign policy could even gain a hearing in a Republican Party so strongly identified with the Bush administration. But betrayals of principle and failures of execution by that administration have made many on the right receptive to alternative views.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us

Daniel Larison has a Ph.D. in history and is a contributing editor at The American Conservative. He also writes on the blog Eunomia.