“Michèle A. Flournoy, a former under secretary of defense under President Barack Obama who turned down a chance to serve as deputy defense secretary for Mr. Trump, said the chaotic nature of the current foreign policy stemmed from an ‘impulsive, inconsistent’ president without a functional national security process that would ensure that ‘second- and third-order consequences’ were fully considered.
“There is ‘no real strategy or shared framework,’ she said, ‘so tactical decisions are made in a vacuum or untethered from broader U.S. national security objectives.’
“Administration officials dismiss questions about conflicting messages…”