2017 in Review: President Trump and US Foreign Policy

22 Dec 2017

How has Donald Trump´s election as US president affected the course of US foreign policy and its future? To find out, why not look again at how CSS analyses have addressed this topic over 2017.

Looking Beyond Trump

In this Strategic Trends 2017 chapter, Jack Thompson argues that the election of Donald Trump, and the emergence of his America First credo, promises a world where the US will not pursue an internationalist foreign policy. As a result, Europe would do well to begin planning for a future in which the US is more skeptical of alliances and trade agreements and less willing to assume a leadership role in resolving international problems.

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No. 212: Trump and the Future of US Grand Strategy

According to Jack Thompson, US grand strategy is at a crossroads. Washington may continue to pursue internationalism, as most of the country’s conservative national security establishment would prefer. However, Donald Trump’s election and his embrace of populist conservative nationalism could mean that the US will turn its back on the liberal world order. Either way, suggests Thompson, the debates currently raging within the Trump administration will do much to determine which direction the US will eventually take, with significant consequences for the global order.

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Trump Preparing to End Iran Nuke Deal

Jack Thompson and Oliver Thränert argue that President Trump´s administration is laying the groundwork for the US to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal. However, they suggest that if the US were to end its participation in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran’s nuclear program, it would severely damage transatlantic relations and the nuclear non-proliferation regime. As a result, Thompson and Thränert urge European governments to talk with Trump’s most influential advisers and convince them that a unilateral withdrawal from the JCPOA will leave the US isolated.

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American Affairs and US Foreign Policy

According to Jack Thompson, “American Affairs” is a nascent Trump-era journal that provides a compelling critique of the Republican Party’s foreign policies. The periodical argues, for example, that 1) conservative internationalism is indeed losing its appeal among Republicans who are increasingly wary of the liberal world order, and 2) a conservative nationalist approach represents the likely future of Republican foreign policy thinking. Ah, but will the latter approach harm or advance US interests?

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Donald Trump’s Foreign Policy: McCarthyism as a Cautionary Tale

If you want to understand where President-elect Donald Trump’s foreign policy might be heading, Jack Thompson thinks you should to study the infamous career of Senator Joe McCarthy, who represented the State of Wisconsin from 1947-1957. Like McCarthy, Trump has built a base of working-class white support with a message that combines populist hostility towards elites with exaggerated depictions of foreign threats. Oh, and that’s not all.

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For more information on issues and events that shape our world, please visit the Center for Security Studies´ publications catalogue here.

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