An esteemed historian and foreign policy scholar argued that President Donald Trump’s Secretary of Defense is trying to walk back his boss’ geopolitical mistakes — but it’s too little, too late. “Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stunned U.S. adversaries and allies at this year’s Shangri-La Dialogue of defense officials in Singapore,” The Wall Street Journal’s Walter Russell Mead wrote on Monday . “He did it in the most unexpected way: by delivering a thoughtful and sensible speech on the future of American defense policy in Asia.” After praising Hegseth for giving “coherent and well-informed answers to questioners from large and small powers across the region,” he added that Trump’s hostile rhetoric toward Asian countries has undermined the effectiveness of Hegeth’s message. Even as the Defense Secretary urged a balance of powers and increased military spending in part to promote stability in the region. “Conceptually at least, this approach is significantly more useful than Joe Biden’s...
