The belief in pursuing policies that promote social justice is, for liberals and some socialists, sometimes extended to overseas affairs. Promoting democracy, women’s rights and gay rights seems like a good offer, but the question is at what cost. Even Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein has questioned Sanders, saying that there is a possibility that what Sanders is proposing is unachievable if he isn't willing to cut the military budget. There was a time when Sanders was a staunch anti-imperialist, running under the banner of the Liberty Union Party. But he was defeated in that election, and it was after serving as the independent mayor of Burlington that he was elected to Congress, promising a focus on local issues.

It is difficult to know what would have happened if Sanders had made foreign policy a central element of his campaign. He lacked the antiwar discourse of Dennis Kucinich, but he could at least prove himself to the left of Hillary in foreign affairs. The support of libertarians and socialists outside the Democratic Party could have helped him in the tightest races, like Iowa or Nevada, and victories there would have shifted the discussion. But perhaps what Bernie feared was being painted as a far-left anti-American, and consequently being marginalized like Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel.

It is too early to predict what will happen to the movement Sanders has ignited. But the fact that the word “socialist” is no longer taboo in American politics opens a possibility for the development of a socialist foreign policy. Younger generations might still be talking about the New Deal in economics, but they could discover that brave men and women, who were socialists when it was not only unpopular but also dangerous, had a foreign policy that argued justice at home could only be achieved if the United States abandoned its imperial ambitions.

Camilo Gómez is a political writer at The Mitrailleuse.

Image: Flickr/Gage Skidmore.