Hegseth and Rubio show that substance does not win in Trump’s cabinet

Donald Trump’s picks to lead the Pentagon and State Department were among the incoming cabinet members making their case before the Senate this week, so it seems appropriate to ask what, if any, we’ve learned about the president-elect’s likely foreign policy.

Three conclusions jump out: First, the emphasis will be on showmanship rather than statecraft. Second, the United States will hone a “warrior ethos,” but direct it inward toward America’s culture wars at least as much as outward toward adversaries. And finally, whenever the resulting policies approach coherence, they will crash into the intractable obstacles of internal contradictions.