What a Foreign Policy For the Middle Class Looks Like: Realism and Restraint Amid Global Conflict

J.D. Vance (R-OH) has served as the junior Senator of Ohio since 2022. Vance grew up in the Rust Belt city of Middletown, Ohio, and the Appalachian town of Jackson, Kentucky. He enlisted in the Marine Corps after high school and served in Iraq. A graduate of the Ohio State University and Yale Law School, Vance became known for his 2016 book 'Hillbilly Elegy', a memoir chronicling his time growing up in the Rust Belt.

Rand Paul (R-KY) has served as the Junior Senator of Kentucky since 2011. A member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Paul has been a staunch critic of American military interventionism throughout his time in office. He is the son of long-time Texas House representative Ron Paul.

Vivek Ramaswamy is a biotech entrepreneur who drew national attention with his bid for the Republican nomination in the 2024 U.S. presidential election. A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Ramaswamy notably advanced a doctrine of foreign policy realism during his presidential run.

Warren Davidson (R-OH) has served the eighth district of Ohio since 2016. An army veteran, Davidson has been a noted skeptic of American's military presence in the Middle East and involvement in the war in Ukraine.

Helen Andrews is a senior editor at The American Conservative. She has worked at the Washington Examiner and National Review, and as a think tank researcher at the Centre for Independent Studies in Sydney, Australia. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, First Things, The Claremont Review of Books, Hedgehog Review, and many others.

Branko Marcetic is a reporter and staff writer with Jacobin magazine and the author of Yesterday’s Man: the Case Against Joe Biden. He was also a 2019-2020 Leonard C. Goodman Institute for Investigative Reporting fellow at In These Times and has appeared frequently in the magazine.

George Beebe is Director of the Grand Strategy program at the Quincy Institute. He spent more than two decades in government as an intelligence analyst, diplomat, and policy advisor, including as director of the CIA’s Russia analysis and as a staff advisor on Russia matters to Vice President Cheney. His book, The Russia Trap: How Our Shadow War with Russia Could Spiral into Nuclear Catastrophe (2019), warned how the United States and Russia could stumble into a dangerous military confrontation.

Kelley Beaucar Vlahos is a senior advisor at the Quincy Institute and editorial director of its online magazine, Responsible Statecraft. Previously she served as executive editor managing editor, and longtime foreign policy/national security writer at the American Conservative magazine. She also spent 15 years as an online political reporter for Fox News.

Jake Werner is the Acting Director of the East Asia program at the Quincy Institute. His research examines the emergence of great power conflict between the U.S. and China and develops policies to rebuild constructive economic relations. Prior to joining Quincy, Jake was a Postdoctoral Global China Research Fellow at the Boston University Global Development Policy Center.

David Goldman is deputy editor of Asia Times and a fellow of the Claremont Institute’s Center for the American Way of Life. His most recent book, You Will Be Assimilated: China’s Plan to Sino-Form the World, was published in 2020.

Saagar Enjeti is the co-founder and co-host of Breaking Points. He previously co-hosted The Hill Rising. Enjeti earned his master’s degree in security studies from Georgetown University and a bachelor’s degree in economics from The George Washington University.

Curt Mills is the Executive Director of The American Conservative, where he previously served as senior reporter and contributing editor. He specializes in foreign policy and campaign coverage and has worked at The National Interest, U.S. News & World Report, Washington Examiner, and the Spectator.