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Kiron Skinner is an author, associate professor of international relations and political science at Carnegie Mellon University, and founding director of the Institute for Politics and Strategy
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via War on the Rocks
1. You’ve advised a number of Republican presidential candidates in the past. In this election cycle, you’re advising Sen. Rand Paul. What drew you to his campaign?
From the start of his career in politics, Rand Paul has had a genuine appreciation for the factors that make the United States strong at home and abroad. Among them is continually addressing the issue of race and rights in our country. His heartfelt engagements with African Americans drew me to him. That’s one of the reasons I am part of his campaign team.
2. Sen. Paul is frequently labeled a libertarian. Beyond the national security issues for which his position is widely known — drone usage and the NSA, for example — to what extent do his views on security and foreign policy more broadly differ from those of the other presidential candidates in the GOP field?
For Sen. Paul’s last five years in public life, he has repeatedly stated that he is neither an isolationist nor an interventionist. He is someone who believes in the Constitution and believes that the United States should have a strong national defense. The senator believes that we should defend ourselves when it is in our national interest to do so.
