US foreign policy has been operating based on a singular objective “achieving a stable international system with the US at the center” ever since WWII.  There have been two schools of thought as to how to do that.   Hamiltonians have believed in a “financial and security” framework for world order, containing communist Russia, and promoting US interests, ergo, sort of economics based is my interpretation.   Wilsonians believed in the “creation of a liberal global order conceived in values rather than economics”.  The advancement of “human rights, democratic governance, and the rule of law” hence establishing unilateral partnerships and global integration.  The debates between the schools have been contentious ever since.  But, there was always that one objective.

Now, the tide has turned.  That one objective is less clear.  The proposal of one scholar is that we are now experiencing the effects of the downfall of the Soviet Union.  Our goal has been reached, so to speak, so what now?  We are seeing the rise of China as the   “want to be” world leader.  What has been perceived as the failure of global order building is challenging the one objective.

So what happens?  Two different schools of thought come flowing in to fill the void, Jeffersonian and Jacksonian.  What’s interesting is that most of us, unless you are in your eighties or older, have never witnessed these two types of thinking in practice but we are in the midst of it.  These two views are just as contentious, or more so, than the previous.  Remember, we had that one objective.  No wonder the populace is confused, upset, emotional, grasping at straws, and clinging to individual beliefs so dearly.

Food for thought:  Is this era of chaos really the fault of President Trump or are we witnessing and living the emergence of new world view paradigms?

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2017-01-20/jacksonian-revolt