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Great, really helpful essay. In a future iteration, could you address the distinctions between an internationalist nationalist GS vs an isolationist one? It might be thought of as different means to the same end.

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thanks for reading, Al! It's certainly true that we could see a range of nationalist strategies: some with a lower threshold for projecting force abroad, and some with a higher bar. But generally (as I will be arguing in a forthcoming post, actually) people advocating a nationalist strategy are very much in favor of extensive international interaction in terms of commerce, finance, science & technology, etc. So there just really aren't people out there who advocate isolationism. Stay tuned for more on this theme.

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But that doesn't seem true of Trump personally. As many people, including Noah Smith, note, to the extent he has a coherent commerce policy, he wants to tariff friendly countries out, not just China.

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Fair enough. But what label then is best for the folks, for example, who want to bar finding for Ukraine? That would prefer the US to be out of NATO? Happy with the collapse of the TPP? The republican party's core identity was at one time internationalist backed by strong defense. Feels much less so today. So if that's not an isolationist tilt, how would you frame it then?

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My way or the highway-ism?

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