What Is the Trump Doctrine?

The liberty principle for this Freedom Friday concerns the Trump Doctrine. What is the Trump Doctrine and what does it mean? Many, if not most, presidents have a “doctrine” concerning foreign policy. Some of them are more well known than others. Martin Kelly, a history teacher and curriculum developer, wrote the following in an article. 

Foreign policy can be defined as the strategy a government uses to deal with other nations. James Monroe pronounced the first major presidential foreign policy doctrine for the newly created United States on December 2, 1823. In 1904, Theodore Roosevelt made a significant amendment to the Monroe Doctrine. While many other presidents announced overarching foreign policy goals, the term “presidential doctrine” refers to a more consistently applied foreign policy ideology….

Kelly’s three key takeaways from the article are as follows:

·         The Monroe Doctrine stopped European colonization in the Americas as a key American foreign policy.

·         The Truman Doctrine promised support to countries fighting against communism and began America’s policy of containment.

·         The Reagan Doctrine provided support to anti-communist forces, influencing the fall of the Soviet Union.

In a perspective piece in The Deseret News, Valerie Hudson, a university distinguished professor at the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University, states that the “Trump doctrine is coming into focus.” 

The Trump Doctrine proceeds from the premise that the United States has lost hard power and must regain it despite interim sacrifice. Tariffs, a new emphasis on shipbuilding, the resurrection of American manufacturing – all are designed to increase the hard power of the United States. The Trump Doctrine also implies that involving ourselves in many geographic regions has helped sap US power, and contends that our allies are simply not doing enough to help.

More broadly, the Trump Doctrine asserts that the “rule-based order” of the post-World War II world no longer works for the United States. This was most recently articulated by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who, during his Senate confirmation hearings, said, “The postwar global order is not just obsolete, it is now a weapon being used against us.” Interestingly, that is the same position being taken by both Russia and China, as well.

Thus, the Trump Doctrine is a reversion back to what is apparently believed to be a surer foundation for peace: great power spheres of influence, that is, a true multipolar world that relies on regional policemen, not one global policeman, to keep the peace internationally. According to the Trump Doctrine, the U.S. will be uninvolved in sub-Saharan Africa until and unless there is a threat to homeland security that emanates from that continent. The Western Hemisphere, of course, will be the suzerainty of the United States….

The idea behind “spheres of influence” is that each great power respects the others’ spheres, dampening the potential for great power conflict. Until and unless the Trump Doctrine’s inconsistencies regarding the Middle East and Asia are sorted out, then, it is unclear whether the United States will not still wind up in conflicts that will prove very unpopular with the American people, and which are unlikely to end with resounding U.S. victories. These inconsistencies bear continued scrutiny.

In sum, the Trump Doctrine is a return to the traditional Realpolitik view that great power spheres of influence are the foundation of international security, with the corollary that the rebuilding of American hard power, especially its manufacturing base, will be necessary to maintain the American sphere. Without American support, the rule-based international order is truly over, though it is possible to assert that it’s been over for a while but no one wanted to acknowledge that reality. Now that it’s been acknowledged in Washington, D.C., it’s time to hold the funeral. Mourning may be justified, but it won’t resurrect the dead.

The Trump Doctrine puts America and Americans first. Taxpayer money will be used to benefit Americans, not other countries or foreigners who sneak into America. He is bringing manufacturing back to  America and using tariffs to bring about fairer trade. However, Trump will not hesitate to use America’s influence and power to stop aggression and to bring about peace.