Foreign Policy in the Bluegrass

I have an op-ed at the Lexington Herald-Leader on how foreign policy could matter for the 2026 election cycle. Most of the piece is about Kentucky-specific concerns about tariffs, immigration, and what not, but I conclude with a paean to civic responsibility:

Public servants have responsibilities to their constituents. The first is to listen. Foreign policy paints in broad strokes, and each community or industry may feel those impacts differently. If members of a community say they’re in trouble because of tariffs, listen to what they have to say. At the same time, foreign policy is deeply complex, and it may not be immediately obvious that unemployment in Kentucky has its roots in agricultural policy in Brazil. It is incumbent upon the public servant to be aware of these relationships and to do their best to explain their impact.

Voters also have responsibilities. They need to educate themselves on the issues and on the relationships and deep causes that underlie those issues. Just as important, they need to hold public servants to account for representation on the issues that affect communities across Kentucky. Public servants will only begin to pay attention to foreign policy when constituents force them to do so.

Nothing that happens in Kentucky stays in Kentucky; indeed, nothing that happens anywhere stays where it happens. It’s a truism that foreign policy rarely matters in elections and never matters in local elections, but I’d like to see that change.