What does America stand for? The world no longer knows.
Hungary gave one of the most trenchant expressions of values-based foreign policy — and takedowns of a supposed US ally, who shares none of them — that I have heard from a diplomat. It was refreshing, even inspiring, precisely because it was so undiplomatically blunt. But in the context of November’s US election, this thunderbolt from a superpower felt out of step with the time and frankly harmless.
In fact, Ambassador David Pressman’s address distilled for me a sense that’s been growing ever since Donald Trump’s victory in 2016, and has crystallized since a second spell in power became as likely as not: No matter what Pressman or a President Kamala Harris might say or stand for, it’s no longer clear what American values are even supposed to be. They can turn on a Hungarian forint.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban is counting on that. He has bet big on a Trump victory, becoming one of the very few world leaders to openly campaign for it. And if it doesn’t work out this time, he’s said he’ll just wait for the next turn of the US electoral cycle. And why not? Orban’s been working against the wishes and interests of both the European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organization for well over a decade despite Hungary’s membership. He’s suffered only some fines and finger-wagging as a result. In Europe, he’s playing an even longer game to change the EU’s interests and values to match his own. He could succeed; it’s possible.
Orban is, according to Pressman, miscalculating. His partisan approach makes the relationship
