Trump’s Grand Strategy and the Post-American World Order

Abstract

The election of Donald Trump to the presidency of the United States paved the way to a period of uncertainty about whether the US continue to play the role of main supporter and operator of the current rule-based international order.On the one hand, the 2016 elections signalled a fundamental erosion of the bipartisan consensus on the American post-war grand strategy, based on free trade, advancement of democracy and military primacy. On the other hand,Trump’s victory represents a moment of sudden and largely unexpected eclipse for liberal internationalism and a rejection of Wilsonian ideas. Writing a year and a half after Trump’s inauguration, this special issue analyses the main elements, discourses and values that are characterising the American foreign policy after 2016, proposing a preliminary evaluation of the potential effects of the Trumpadministration on the international order, looking at different regional theatres.