Thread by @RebeccaLissner

In January 2017, @MicahZenko & I argued in @ForeignPolicy there was no Trump Doctrine & would never be one.

With fewer than 80 days before he stands for reelection, how has that argument held up?

In short: Far better than we expected. 1/

foreignpolicy.com/2020/08/18/thi…

During the 2016 campaign, @thomaswright08 brilliantly distilled Trump's worldview: antagonism toward allies, adoration of strongmen, & aversion to trade. 2/
politico.com/magazine/story…

Sharp observers like @ColinKahl & @HalBrands argued this "dark and nightmarish" worldview would constitute a grand strategy for the Trump Administration -- albeit a disastrous one. 3/

foreignpolicy.com/2017/01/31/tru…

But @MicahZenko & I predicted these consistent instincts would not serve as a reliable guide to policy because Trump's modus operandi is anti-strategic: obsessed with deals, he is tactical & transactional. 4/

foreignpolicy.com/2017/01/13/tru…

Some like Ionut Popescu have subsequently argued that grand strategy doesn't matter much -- US foreign policy can succeed even if it isn't guided by a coherent, long-term vision. 5/

foreignaffairs.com/articles/unite…

And others like @dandrezner Krebs & Schweller contend grand strategy is effectively obsolete -- amidst so much global change, attempting to devise a grand strategy is costly & counterproductive. 6/

foreignaffairs.com/articles/world…

But Trump's foreign policy record shows the danger of his tactical-transactional approach. Even on issues where presidential preferences are constant (eg trade, allies, autocrats) the administration has pursued opposing initiatives (eg the NSS & NDS). 7/

foreignaffairs.com/articles/unite…

This say-do gap undermines America's ability to advance its global interests, even as Trump's team defines them. Pompeo's China speech is a case in point: as @MiraRappHooper argued, it tries to rally the very allies Trump has relentlessly denigrated. 8/

cnn.com/2020/07/28/opi…

America's mercurial foreign policy has confounded the world for almost 4 yrs. If the US remains strategically adrift, we risk consigning ourselves to global irrelevance. It's meaningless to go thru the motions of global leadership if nobody is following.bit.ly/325j0TU 9/

What would a new approach look like? In our book, @MiraRappHooper & I describe an openness strategy that is both disciplined & globally engaged. We reject strategic nihilism & argue upheaval creates a narrow window of opportunity the US must seize. 10/10
amzn.to/3jqxlC2