I am very excited to share my new article on the Big U.S. Foreign Policy Debate that is currently happening. In short, rather than a policy debate, I suggest we approach it as a battle of master narratives, tnsr.org/2019/12/whithe…
pitting 'American exceptionalism' against Jacksonian ethno-nationalism. For the first time since 1941, a U.S. president is promoting fundamentally different grand strategy ('America First') that builds on an anti-exceptionalist narrative (Jacksonian nationalism).
The article lays out the two competing narratives and their attendant grand strategies, and asks: given the drastic break with the postwar U.S. foreign policy consensus that Trump in fact represents, is it possible to reverse course once a new president is elected?
In fact, not only is a snap back to the status quo ante improbable (for several reasons I detail in the article), I argue that it is also undesirable. An exceptionalist narrative understood as a worldview that sees the United States as morally superior has led the US down
disastrous paths in the past. As I conclude: 'After Trump comes a moment of opportunity: not to simply put the U.S. ship in reverse, but rather, to plot out a new course.' A sincere thank you to @TXNatSecReview for publishing such a long, historically oriented article.
