From Greg Grandin’s book on Kissinger:
Kissinger dwelled awhile on the danger statesmen face when they point out to their nation’s people that they are not, in fact, the world, that their aspirations are not boundless, that other peoples, with different interests and experiences, exist. Unwilling to accept these limits, citizens often stage “an almost hysterical, if subconscious, rebellion against foreign policy.
This is absolutely spot on. Here’s the reason why the US foreign policy is so impotent. Voters flip out whenever foreign affairs are mentioned because they are traumatized by the realization that other human beings, with the will and interests of their own, exist.
Clarissa's Blog 
http://www.jstor.org/stable/466226?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
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Most Americans don’t care about US foreign policy unless there’s a war involved. Historically, candidates that have run campaigns emphasizing foreign policy have lost. People vote on issues affecting their income and taxes. They don’t see a connection between their wallet and foreign policy (except to abhor spending on foreign aid) so they usually ignore it.
Frankly, one conservative economist in a private conversation talked about the virtues of turning the Middle East into a “glass factory,” that is, pasting the entire region with nuclear bombs. His only concern was the amount of money the US was spending there. He literally advocated killing everyone between India and the Mediterranean. Such people really exist.
I don’t think Trump is that immoral, but some of the others scare me.
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I know they exist. I read a post yesterday by a person from Israel who wants all of Syria to be razed to the ground. It’s horrible what people can descend into.
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