How will Donald Trump's "America First" policy impact international stability? This sobering book argues that it will put the country on a path toward war. International relations expert Hall Gardner analyzes the twists and turns of our president's foreign policy pronouncements from the beginning of his campaign to the present day. He argues that Trump's proposed economic nationalism and military buildup--if implemented--will alienate America's friends and rivals alike. The unintended and perilous consequence could well be to press Russia, Iran, Turkey, China, and possibly India into a closer counter-alliance.
Gardner has long warned that the uncoordinated NATO and European Union enlargement into former Soviet spheres of influence and security would not only provoke a Russian revanchist backlash, but could also encourage Moscow to forge a Sino-Russian alliance--despite ongoing disputes between the two countries. That Russian backlash has already taken place since the annexation of Crimea in 2014 during the Obama administration. Now Trump's seeming contempt of trade pacts, multilateral relations, and our longstanding one-China policy could push Russia to construct closer ties with a more assertive China to form a polarizing alliance. At the same time, "America First" trade and monetary disputes with allies could tempt some of those states to move into neutrality or else drift into the Russia-China orbit.
Against this dangerous and destabilizing unilateralism, Gardner makes a convincing case that the only workable means of maintaining a peaceful world order is through through patient and thoroughly engaged diplomacy and a realist rapprochement with both Russia and China.
