I am returning to my blog after a three year hyiatus. I am exploring the perspectives of U.S. foreign policy. There is no shortage of opinions on what is happening and how the world is changing. So much of the world depends on what happens in American politics. The U.S. elections in November 2025 brought a realignment of systems and regional dependencies. From one perspective, Steven Kotkin, with the Foreign Policy magazine January/February 2026 issue, sees it this way:

“U.S. President Donald Trump, whose second term has aroused domestic and international trepidation about American authoritarianism. After all, if the president is authoritarian, or if the United States is becoming an authoritarian country, how could it lead the domestic world in a fight against authoritarianism?”

He goes on to say, “The ferocity and scope of Trump’s counterrevolution have stunned progressive revolutionaries and the far larger number of Americanson the center-left who for decades had complied (or had been intimidated into silence) as left-wing orthodoxies swept through and reshaped establishment institutions. What many of them see as an authoritarian assault on such institutions, more Americans see as an overdue restoration of common sense.”

What Kotkin fails to understand is that weak leadership in U.S. foreign policy leads to authoritarianism from countries like Russia, China, Iran, Venezuela, Cuba, Somalia, Canada, Mexico, and others. In the words of Aristotle, “nature abhors a vacuum,” and the political and societal changes occurring in the world are by design. The uniqueness of American politics, shaped by the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights, dictates that our leaders are elected in increments. With every rise and fall of a presidential administration, cultural and societal changes occur. As a result, with the vast differences between the Biden and Trump administrations, the dichotomy is clear.

What I wish to explore is how I hope the world to change. As a Christian believer, I try to view history, my country’s shortcomings in policy matters, and understand where the future is likely to go.

First, I believe God is sovereign and has all of earth’s history and future in His hands. Second, he raises up leaders and brings them down. Third, U.S. foreign policy is replete with wrong decisions and shortsightedness. But more to the point, our country has righted a lot of wrongs over the years, since there are cycles of leadership. Not without consequence, but adjustments.

That said, last year’s events surrounding the standoff between Iran and the United States over Iran’s nuclear production came to the point of the United States eliminating the sites with bunker bombs that eliminated the problem altogether. That one act alone shifted many situations. First, it took Iran out of its power over markets and ability to dictate terms in the Middle East. Second, it meant Russia and China could no longer use them on the world stage and could instead help set up a more peaceful region. Hamas and the Houthis were no longer players on the world stage. Third, it set the stage for President Trump to collaborate with Saudi Arabia to peacefully develop the region. Wrong righted.

No matter what your opinion, President Trump negotiated various levels of tariffs to develop American prosperity that other countries had taken advantage of with an improper balance of trade.

Lastly, the most recent events surrounding Venezuela have reshaped influence and markets. Russia, China, Iran, and Cuba can no longer receive black-market oil. That adjusts for a lot! It means U.S. foreign policy is in the driver’s seat. Cuba’s government may fall as a result. The result of these events could bring more peace to the world.

At every level, I trust God with the history of this world. As I see things happen, it takes me to a place of wonder and amazement at how fast and furious change shapes world events. President Trump is not God. But he has stated he believes God kept him from being assassinated to make the policy decisions he has made.

How can foreign policy make sense in a broken world? Only God can say.