A major component of Americans’ decision-making as they go to the 2024 polls will be foreign policy. That is entirely appropriate, first, because of the importance of what happens abroad to Americans’ lives. Americans should remember Leon Trotsky’s purported observation that “you might not be interested in war, but war might be interested in you.” That is, the world is a dangerous place. There are many people who wish to destroy America. They need to be met not by attempting to hide from them or with rainbow flags, but with the force of a Mike Tyson punch to the face. Second, this election provides Americans a choice between an America First foreign policy or the disastrous alternative of President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’s administration. In this essay, we offer our interpretation of an America First foreign policy and what it means for Americans.

Based on the past three and a half years of performance, the Biden-Harris regime has sustained a foreign policy, largely born from the Obama administration, that ignores the existential threat posed by the People’s Republic of China (PRC), undermines our allies like the Philippines, distances itself from key partners like India and Taiwan, fuels the Russo-Ukrainian war, punishes Israel, embraces the Islamic Republic of Iran, and supports international organizations like the World Health Organization (WHO) and international agreements like the Paris Climate Agreement that advance the PRC’s interests. All of which has undeniably damaged the sovereignty and national security of Americans. In addition, there is the joint domestic-foreign policy issue of America’s open borders. The Biden-Harris administration has imported 12 to 15 million people from around the world in almost four years, and tens of millions more will certainly enter the U.S. if Harris is elected.

At root, for many Americans, the Biden-Harris actions and policies seem difficult to understand as they are such a break with traditional American policies, culture, and history and are so deleterious to the health and well-being of the American people. However, once you realize that is precisely the point—that they are the most radical Marxist-oriented administration in U.S. history—then their actions make perfect sense. Their intent is to fundamentally transform the U.S. from being a constitutional republic to a one-party state. Thus, their goal is to replace and transition every established institution, organization, and cultural norm. Theirs is a policy of America Last or as it was called during the Obama era—leading from behind.

In contrast, an America First foreign policy does precisely the opposite—it places the American people and their interests first. America First recognizes that American power is essential for the security of Americans in every respect. An America First policy promotes, as American strategists did throughout American history, that American hard power capabilities—the health of its economy, military, and the society upon which both depend—are inextricably linked.

The vigor of the American economy means that the U.S. must master both manufacturing and high technology. The strength of the military means that the United States must possess an informed citizenry that supports the military—many of whom want to serve in the services. It means American industrial might to support the conventional and nuclear missions of the United States military, making everything from ships and tanks to computer chips and tritium, and conventional and nuclear capabilities, are second to none. The well-being of society means that Americans understand and are proud of their heritage, are patriotic and honored to serve in the military, have prosperous and safe communities, and have a sovereign United States that enforces its immigration laws.

America First recognizes the U.S. does have a profound, indeed, existential enemy, the PRC. The PRC is using every means at its disposal to destroy the U.S. from within, as well as the U.S. position in world politics. From the Arctic to the South Pacific, and from its support of Russia in the Ukraine war to its coercive measure to evict the Philippines from its Exclusive Economic Zone and ever-increasing military actions against Taiwan and Japan, key U.S. partners, the aggression of the PRC against U.S. interests is quickening and intensifying.

Tie that realization to the steps it takes to hollow out U.S. communities through its trade practices, its chemical warfare against Americans through fentanyl and other opioids, its interference in U.S. elections, its lying about the origins and spread of COVID-19, lies that it still maintains today, compels the realization that the PRC is waging a multiple front, People’s War against the American people.

America First understands that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is at war with America. Except for President Trump, the U.S. response has been feckless because of the fatally flawed engagement policy pursued by all presidents since the first Bush and Clinton administrations, and that will be pursued with a vengeance by a Harris administration. Only America First can consign the CCP to the dustbin of history as another America First president, Ronald Reagan, did to the Soviet Union.

In the diplomatic realm, America First understands that the U.S. has a tremendous number of exceptional allies who work with the U.S. to cooperate on mutual economic and security threats and, in some cases, to share intelligence. Great allies like Australia, Japan, and the United Kingdom, among many others, have worked with the U.S. to address their mutual threats and have contributed to the fight against the Soviet Union or the PRC today. America First comprehends the value and contribution of allies in the past or today. America First is, by definition, not America Alone.

Our many allies have made tremendous sacrifices in war or have assisted the U.S. in tangible and countless other ways. We see this bravery in action today as the Philippines, a steadfast U.S. ally, stands up to Beijing’s aggression. But America First also grasps that the “free riding” problem is inherent in alliances and at the heart of this issue. That is, if the most powerful alliance member, Uncle Sam, is going to do it anyway, why should alliance members contribute? NATO allies and others have tended to shirk their responsibilities regarding defense spending and other contributions to the alliance.

But Uncle Sam is not Uncle Sucker. An America First foreign policy labors to get allies to act like allies in every respect, including defense spending, and to honor the letter and spirit of the alliance. Ultimately, that is in the self-interest of the alliance members, who, at the end of the day, depend upon the American extended deterrent for their security. In turn, the American extended deterrent depends on the support and willingness of the American people to honor its commitment and incur its great costs.

America First is the return of American foreign policy to the principles that won World War II and the Cold War. It is not a policy of endless “whack-a-mole” operations around the world but instead offers a strategy for victory over the evil of the CCP—the one adversary that has both the will and capability to destroy America. An America First foreign policy will ensure America’s friends are treated as friends and America’s enemies are treated as enemies.

The Biden-Harris administration punished America’s friends and rewarded America’s enemies. America First is America’s traditional foreign policy, and only President Trump offers the possibility of returning the United States to its traditional principles that resulted in victory against Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and Soviet Russia. America First principles made this country, to borrow from the U.S. Marine Corps, no better friend and no worse enemy. Or, as was exemplified by the Reagan Administration, America First rested on the principle of peace through strength.

***

James E. Fanell and Bradley A. Thayer are authors of Embracing Communist China: America’s Greatest Strategic Failure. The views expressed are their own.