A thematic line in how Vice President J.D. Vance goes about approaching situations, foreign and domestic, comes to Erick Erickson's notice.
The common thread in all of J.D. Vance’s views, both foreign and domestic, is that the United States is in decline and some strong person must manage that decline. We should retreat from world leadership, bring home all the troops, recognize a tripartite system with China and…
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) August 16, 2026
Erickson's full tweet reads.
The common thread in all of J.D. Vance’s views, both foreign and domestic, is that the United States is in decline and some strong person must manage that decline. We should retreat from world leadership, bring home all the troops, recognize a tripartite system with China and Russia as equals, exert control over the Western Hemisphere, and diminish. China, Russia, and even the Democratic Socialists of America agree with that position. The rest of us do not have to. Decline is a choice.
There are several ingredients in that political chowder. "Some strong person must manage that decline," is a line worth examination. Decline does come down to being a choice, as Erickson asserts, and the remedy for it is the oil that makes our nation go: Freedom, free markets, and free enterprise. That may get old and sound cliché. We here do not strong-hand our way out of the mire by management from the top. As for foreign relations, we may be coming to a time when the U.S. is less involved in foreign affairs. There is retreating from world affairs, and there is prudent forward going in the world. They may appear similar because we have become entangled in so much abroad, but therein does lie a difference.
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