Obama Brought Poetry. Trump Brought a Checkbook.

Fifteen years apart, two American presidents addressed the Muslim world. From moral authority to market dominance, U.S. foreign policy isn’t what it used to be—and that might be a good thing.

In 2009, Barack Obama stood before a packed auditorium at Cairo University and promised a “new beginning” between the United States and Muslims around the world. It was lofty, lyrical, and laden with idealism. He quoted the Quran. He admitted America’s past mistakes and called for mutual respect, human rights, and democratic reform. If foreign policy had a liberal arts department, Obama was its tenured professor.