An isolationist GOP or a muscular one?

The Republican Party from at least the onset of the Cold War in the late 1940s traditionally supported a muscular foreign policy for the United States.

Former President Donald Trump changed all that during his term in office and developed a more isolationist approach.

Now, in the midst of a political campaign in which multiple GOP candidates are staking out their policies on the U.S.'s position on the world stage in the midst of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the Hamas attack on Israel, they are creating positions alternately traditionalist and in favor of an “America First” approach.

Who's correct?

That's our Question of the Week for readers.

Former President George W. Bush — while certainly no longer a candidate — is in the traditional camp. He is quoted in a recent Associated Press story by Steve Peoples as describing himself as “kind of a hard-liner.” He believes that the Biden administration has “started off on the right foot” in its support of Israel during the Hamas-Israel conflict.

Presidential candidate and former UN Ambassador Nikki

Halley would seem to be in Bush's camp. The AP quotes her at a campaign event as vowing to stand with Israel “every step of the way.” She promised to “decimate” the Iranian economy. And she called for continued funding for Ukraine as it fights to repel the Russian invasion.

Whereas Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said during the same campaign swing that the U.S. should stop funding Ukraine until there is a clear strategy. While Israel, he said, has a right to defend itself, “I don't think there's going to be a lot we even need to do militarily.”

Trump has offered a mixed message, saying Israeli leaders need to “step up their game” while referring to Hezbollah, which operates from Lebanon, as “very smart.” He said Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu “was not prepared” for the Hamas incursion from Gaza.

Longtime GOP leader Sen. Lindsey Graham, a sometime Trump supporter, said: “That was a huge mistake ... If I were President Trump I'd talk about being the strongest president for Israel in modern times.”

Who's in the right for Republicans, the isolationists or the internationalists? For voters, what's the winning strategy in the 2024 election?