With the Iowa caucuses of Feb. 3, the New Hampshire primary of Feb. 11 and the Nevada primary last Saturday behind us, the U.S. presidential election campaign now shifts its attention to the primary in South Carolina next Saturday, followed by Super Tuesday on March 3, when 14 states, Americans living abroad and America Samoa will vote.

Although foreign policy has not played a prominent role so far in the nine nationally televised debates among the Democratic candidates, it is almost certain to be an issue in the general election. This is especially so since the Trump administration's "America First" policy has led to a fundamental shift away from the so-called liberal international order pursued by both Republican and Democratic administrations since the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s.

This America First policy includes: (1) a unilateral or bilateral, rather than multilateral, approach toward foreign countries; (2) an emphasis on "free, fair and reciprocal" economic relations; (3) a demonization of bilateral trade imbalances; (4) a proclivity to use trade-restrictive (e.g., tariffs) rather than trade-expansive (e.g., market-opening) measures; (5) a short-term transactional approach that emphasizes "deals" rather than long-term relationships; (6) de-emphasizing alliances; (7) minimizing human rights; (8) an explicit linking of national security and trade; (9) pressuring allies to pay more for their defense; and (10) a preference for the United States to be "unpredictable" in foreign affairs.