Cato’s Preble: Thumbs Down on Bolton

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Chris Preble, vice president for defense and foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute, gives President Trump’s new pick for National Security Adviser a thumbs down. McMaster may not have been great, but Bolton will be a far worse influence on the president. Preble (author of The Power Problem) writes (abridged):

Bolton has been one of the most reliably hawkish voices in American politics in recent memory. In 2015, he openly called for launching a war against Iran. Earlier this year, he argued that the United States should initiate a war against North Korea.

McMaster was no dove. He appears to have been a decisive voice in convincing President Trump to reverse himself on Afghanistan. But McMaster’s cerebral nature simply doesn’t compare to Bolton’s made-for-Fox News bellicosity – which may explain why Trump tired of the three-star general.