Colin Dueck, associate professor of public and international affairs at George Mason University, has a very thoughtful piece on realism and American foreign policy in the latest issue of Policy Review. In the article, Dueck reviews the foreign policy legacies of three Republican presidents–Theodore Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan, and George W. Bush–and outlines a clear way ahead for Republican policymakers seeking to reintroduce realism into foreign policy decision making.  Dueck writes:

There have always been at least three main strains or schools of thought in conservative and Republican foreign policy thinking: those represented by nationalists, hawks, and realists. Nationalists emphasize the protection of American sovereignty. Hawks emphasize both the moral and the practical arguments for military intervention overseas. Realists emphasize the careful…