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It twists, it turns, it bounces in unexpected directions. How do we make sense of Trump’s foreign policy? Is there a logic behind it or just a series of improvised presidential whims? In the past two years, we’ve seen a confusing mix of policy initiatives: threats of nuclear genocide against North Korea followed by a 180-degree turn to a “great relationship” with Kim Jong-Il and claims of successful negotiations; bombing raids in Syria followed by a pledge that U.S. troops will withdraw within one month, and then a rollback of that pledge; dogged support for Saudi Arabia’s bombing of Yemen in the face of their assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi; announcement of a framework for a negotiated peace in Afghanistan; a ramping up of tensions with Iran and China, and hints of an outright invasion of Venezuela.
In a recent interview with Doug Henwood, foreign relations scholar Andrew Bacevich suggested that Trump wants to diminish U.S. entanglements in futile military conflicts and generally step away from the assertion of U.S. hegemony over traditional allies. Trump’s impulses, Bacevich says, have been stymied by advisors and officials committed to the bi-partisan goal of increasing the global projection of U.S. power. We think Bacevich is too optimistic about Trump’s individual agenda, and we have a somewhat different take.
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