Jon Meacham: We’re Going Back to a Pre-WWII Great Power Politics Where the Rule of the Strong Predominates

EXCERPT:

MEACHAM: “It changed the post-World War II order. It changes the Republican Party in a deep and fundamental way. The party of Ronald Reagan is fully the party of Donald Trump, which is a hugely significant historical shift, where the center of gravity moves from trust but verify, Mr. Gorbachev tear down this wall, Ronald Reagan was one of the great negotiators in American history, the only union president to ever be president of the United States. And he starts out his term in 1981 saying that the Soviets reserve unto themselves the right to lie, to cheat, to steal, and then he ends it literally in the spring of 1988, playing with babies in Red Square. That's where the Republican Party was 40 years ago. Now it's in a place where, as you suggest, Jonathan, it basically is going back to a pre-World War II, great power politics, where the rule of the strong predominates, and principle, which is always, as David knows far better than I do, principle is always a flexible matter in geopolitics.”