Lexington The gift of low expectations

摘要

A ONCE-popular argument that President Donald Trump's approach to foreign policy is not substantially different from Barack Obama's is going down in a blaze of trade agreements. Yet on Afghanistan it remains broadly true. Mr Obama came to power describing Afghanistan's conflict as the "war we have to win"，but never seemed convinced that was possible. After a stab at escalating the conflict, he devoted his presidency to ending it. It was time, he said in 2011，the year the war became the longest in American history, "to focus on nation-building here at home." Mr Trump has long said the same. His decision to launch a much smaller escalation last year came with the closest thing he can muster to an apology attached: "My original instinct was to pull out, and historically I like to follow my instincts." Even so, his record on Afghanistan, including this week a promise of peace talks to add to that modest military reinforcement, is starting to look much better than his predecessor's.