than it was then. no question the middle east is a mess. and syria, here is an example. if you look at the obama legacy, what was the obama foreign policy vision? as encapsulated by them. don t do stupid stuff. substitute the word for stuff. that was the formula. the idea being that you can make situations worse by intervention, a lesson of the iraq war and et cetera. a place like syria, lack of intervention can also leave horrendous problems. refugees, you name it. chemical weapons use. so in addition to being a valedictory speech it was also a rebuke of donald trump s at least proposed altering of the course. when you look at the big issues, the big interventions i don t know that donald trump has articulated that he ll be that different. he has talked about standing up, being tougher, negotiating better deals, et cetera. he is not talking about a military intervention on the ground in syria. just the opposite. not talking about a greater