While excerpts from Bob Woodward’s soon-to-be-released book, “Fear,” suggest that President Trump’s knowledge of international affairs is inadequate, they do not present Trump’s foreign policy mindset as fundamentally dangerous.

Don’t misunderstand me, a full reading of the book – and Woodward’s reporting is first rate – may suggest Trump’s mindset is dangerous. It’s also true that Trump wrongly views major treaties such as NATO and NAFTA as business-type arrangements rather than the structural foundations of a U.S.-led international order (an order from which Americans benefit greatly in economic and security terms). Yet we should invoke a sense of proportion to the reaction that has followed excerpts of Woodward’s book as released by the Washington Post on Tuesday. While some of those excerpts are negative for Trump, they do not collectively present the president in the negative light.