Most members of the establishment cling to the idea that the principal worry about Republican policy views is the growing appeal of "isolationism."  A recent example was a Washington Post column by Marc A. Thiessen. Thiessen was responding to a speech by President Biden at the Normandy battlefield, and the exchange illustrated the utter sterility in America's current foreign policy debate.

Thiessen is annoyed because Biden had accused GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump of isolationism. Instead of pointing out that isolationism has long been a vacuous epithet used to discredit critics who want to move beyond the policies created during the Cold War, Thiessen's goal is quite different. It is to make the case that Trump is part of the Republican hawkish establishment: "Biden's latest attack on Trump is wildly inaccurate." The essence of Thiessen's defense is that Trump is at least as hawkish as his more conventional Republican colleagues. He asserts, in essence, that "Trump is as hawkish as we are."  Thiessen heaps praise on the former president for Trump's hardline policies against Iran, including the assassination of General Quasem Soleimani.

Thiessen also points out that contrary to the mythology fostered by the Democrats that Trump was Vladimir Putin's puppet, Trump had launched cyber attacks against Russia and, unlike the Obama administration, had provided weapons to Ukraine. Echoing allegations by Mitch McConnell and other GOP congressional leaders, Thiessen contends that there are indeed isolationists in the Republican Party, most notably Senator J.D. Vance (R-Ohio).  But, according to Thiessen, "Trump's record suggests he is not the isolationist they hope him to be."

Leaving aside Thiessen's silly isolationist epithet, he's likely correct that the foreign policy of a new Trump administration would differ little from the collection of obsolete assumptions and counterproductive policies that have plagued U.S. foreign policy for decades.  For real, beneficial change in U.S. foreign policy, a new administration would need to recognize the actual conditions of the world in the 21st century and make necessary policy adjustments.