Rand Paul: Some in GOP ‘Stuck in the Cold War Era’

The ongoing unrest in Ukraine has
highlighted another difference of opinion between Sen. Rand Paul
(R-Ky.) and some of his Republican colleagues when it comes to
foreign policy.

Paul, one of the Republican Party’s most prominent
non-interventionists, split with some in his party when he opposed
the Obama administration’s intervention
in Libya and spoke out against strikes on the
Assad regime.

While recently speaking on the situation in Ukraine, Paul warned
against Republicans who still have a Cold War mentality towards
Russia.

From
The Washington Post:

“Some on our side are so stuck in the Cold War era that they
want to tweak Russia all the time and I don’t think that is a good
idea,” Paul said on Tuesday, in an interview with The Washington
Post.

Paul’s comments underscore the latest foreign-policy fissure in
the GOP, where the party’s libertarian wing and Republican hawks
have clashed over whether Putin is a threat and the future of
U.S.-Russia relations.

The Post goes on to say that Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.)
has urged President Obama to push for Ukraine to be a member of the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

A recent
CBS News/New York Times poll shows that Paul, who has not
announced whether he will run for president, and Jeb Bush are top
of Republicans’ 2016 wish list.

I recently
asked if Paul’s positions on foreign policy will be heard by an
indifferent American public.

Read more from Reason.com on Ukraine here.