Strong client states help keep America first, and that includes Ukraine. Rome was at her strongest and her military  most efficient when she maintained a vibrant system of clients along the marches of the empire from the days of the republic to the early empire. Every British tribal warrior, Armenian spearman, or soldier of Judea guarding the frontiers was one less Roman legionnaire needed to man the frontier forts along the periphery of the empire. Trump is perhaps the greatest transactional politician of his generation. As Edward Luttwak points out in his seminal work, The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire, Rome was able to control most of the known world with an army about the size of today’s Marine Corps. If a threat presented  itself that was beyond the power of the client king or queen, Rome had adequate reserves to deal with the crisis, but such situations were the exception rather than a rule. (READ MORE: Foreign Adversaries React to Assassination Attempt on Trump) This was a way of keeping Rome first. That is the model America firsters should be thinking about with our string of client nations and alliances such as NATO, Japan, Israel, Egypt, and even Ukraine where the war with Russia won’t last forever. Rome’s relationship to her clients was only benign to a point where the client ruler ceased being competent or became a liability. At that point, the iron fist came out of the velvet glove. (READ MORE from Gary Anderson: Tim Walz, Unreformed Summer Soldier) Trump and the Client States Here is the irony regarding Donald Trump. He is perhaps the best American client manager since the days of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. Under Trump, NATO members, Japan, and South Korea began to ante up their fair share of the defense burden. Joe Biden likes being loved by our allies, but respect and fear have been absent.. Trump elicits that fear and respect. Donald Trump is the one American politician best positioned to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. He has leverage over Ukraine in the way of aid, and he is the only major American politician still on speaking terms with Vladimir Putin. Trump has alluded to his willingness to help broker such a deal, and he should make this a major element of his campaign pitch. Richard Nixon garnered many votes with his promise to end the war in Vietnam. It took him some time to do it, but he eventually did. Rome’s use of client states was strictly transactional. One of the most successful clients was Herod the Great of Judea. He was a thoroughly detestable individual and is still reviled by Christians and Jews alike, but he was a competent client who kept the borders stable. It was not until less competent successors lost control of the Jewish population that the Romans had to step in and turn the area into a province. That was done at great expense to the Roman treasury and in Roman lives. Trump is perhaps the greatest transactional politician of his generation and  dealing with friends and adversaries in the next four years will require transactional skills. It is one of Mr. Trump’s greatest strengths. He should play to it. That includes convincing the America First portion of his constituency that strong clients save America both money and manpower. Gary Anderson contrasted Roman and American client management strategies in Toward a Pax Universalis, one of the Naval War College Newport Paper   The post Trump Is an Extraordinary Manager of Client Nations appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.