• What IR Theory Predicts About Trump 2.0

    From ltlee1@21:1/5 to All on Mon Mar 10 21:40:16 2025
    From Foreign Policy:
    "The key issue is the impact that Trump’s imposition of tariffs, his withdrawal from the World Health Organization, and his other recent
    initiatives are going to have on American lives. And part of the answer
    to that question depends on how the rest of the world reacts to Trump’s heavy-handed attempts to browbeat and bully them—starting with some of
    our closest allies.
    ..
    As I see it, what we have here is a clash of rival theories about how
    the world works. The first is my old friend balance-of-power/threat
    theory; the second is the theory of collective goods. Both perspectives
    tell you important things about how the world works; the question is
    which one provides the clearest insights into what is likely to happen
    now.
    ..
    As balance-of-threat theory predicts, some leaders in these countries
    are already advocating concerted efforts to resist Trump’s dangerous
    agenda. Last week, former Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland
    (who hopes to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as leader of the
    Liberal Party) called for a summit meeting of Mexico, Panama, Canada,
    and the European Union to develop joint responses to Trump’s tariffs and sovereignty threats. When Canadian hockey fans boo the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner”—as they did this weekend—you know something is seriously amiss. Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates,
    Qatar, the Palestinian Authority, and the Arab League issued a joint
    statement flatly rejecting Trump’s proposal to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank. Such efforts are bound to
    increase if Trump continues down his current path, and some countries
    are going to look for help from Beijing, if only to gain more leverage
    against Washington.

    In short, one of the more enduring and powerful theories of world
    politics suggests that Trump’s radical approach to foreign policy is
    going to backfire. He may win a few concessions in the short term, but
    the long-term results will be greater global resistance and new
    opportunities for America’s rivals.
    ..
    Nobody doubts that the United States has a mailed fist, but we are about
    to discover what happens when the velvet glove is removed. As realists
    have warned for decades, and as a parade of past aggressors reminds us,
    states that use big-stick diplomacy to browbeat and punish others
    eventually overcome any initial reluctance to balance and the obstacles
    to collective action and end up with fewer friends, more enemies, and
    far less influence. I wouldn’t have thought it possible for the United
    States to permanently alienate its closest neighbors and many
    long-standing partners, but that is precisely where we are now headed."

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