Trump by nixon: Maverick presidents in the years of U.S. relative decline

Taesuh Cha, Jungkun Seo

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Does President Donald J. Trump have a coherent statecraft? Can we find a consistent grand strategy in this new administration, worth calling the “Trump Doctrine”? Mainly supported by angry Jacksonian folks who have been frustrated with economic polarization and racial anxiety, Trump’s foreign policy idea resonates well with European realism. Considering the fact that realist theory has been confined to the margins of public discourse in post–Cold War America, this unexpected return of the realist doctrine on the U.S. political scene needs to be explained. Why are we suddenly approaching realism’s moment in foreign policy? What makes prominent realists express their best wishes to President Trump? In this article, we focus on the historical parallel between two maverick presidents in modern U.S. history, Richard Nixon and Donald Trump. In particular, it is argued that the realities of the United States’ relative decline induced the Nixon and Trump administrations to embark on an unconventional course of realpolitik in world politics. The U.S. leadership in the early 1970s strived to adjust to a condition in which U.S. dominance was no longer as certain as in the early years of the postwar times by adopting unorthodox statecraft amid profound political polarization. Seemingly, the same story applies to the present administration. By attacking the liberal consensus of the establishment, domestic and international, the Trump government tries to “make America great again” in another era of increased stress. Confronting an emerging multipolar international system and the collapse of the existing national consensus, dramatic shifts in policies have been implemented to ensure that the United States will remain a hegemonic power on the world scene.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)79-96
Number of pages18
JournalKorean Journal of Defense Analysis
Volume30
Issue number1
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2018

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Korea Institute for Defense Analyses.

Keywords

  • Jacksonianism
  • Nixon
  • Realism
  • Trump
  • U.S. hegemony

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