Abstract
Drawing on British Philosopher Isaiah Berlin’s application of the binary distinction between what the ancient Greek poet Archilochus called the hedgehogs and the foxes, the chapter seeks to decipher the so-called Trump doctrine. It briefly discusses the largely negative views of the global Western intelligentsia towards the controversial American president, while forwarding a more nuanced view, which assesses the potential strengths and much-needed disruption brought about by Trump. The chapter argues that while there are legitimate concerns over the temperament, judgment, and wisdom of the American leader, his heterodox approach to global affairs has introduced new sets of opportunities, which may paradoxically, over the long run, facilitate the creation of a more robust and symmetrical security architecture in the Indo-Pacific.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Heydarian (2018d).
- 2.
Kennan (1951, 56).
- 3.
Berlin (1953).
- 4.
Chua (2009).
- 5.
Gaddis (2018).
- 6.
Holland (2007).
- 7.
Trump (2015).
- 8.
Chua (2009, xxii).
- 9.
Tucker (1968).
- 10.
Bialik (2018).
- 11.
Wike et al. (2017a).
- 12.
Wike et al. (2017b).
- 13.
ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute (2017).
- 14.
Bialik (2018).
- 15.
Berlin (1953).
- 16.
The Guardian (2012).
- 17.
Gaddis (2018).
- 18.
Freedman (2015, xii).
- 19.
Wright (2016).
- 20.
Kagan (2016).
- 21.
Farhi (2016).
- 22.
Ikenberry (2017).
- 23.
Rose (2017).
- 24.
Nye (2016).
- 25.
Krugman (2018).
- 26.
Allison (2018).
- 27.
Schake (2018).
- 28.
Goldberg (2018).
- 29.
Ferguson (2018a).
- 30.
Rose (2017).
- 31.
Ellwood (1918).
- 32.
Mickey et al. (2017).
- 33.
Liu (2018).
- 34.
Bali and Rana (2017).
- 35.
Woodward (2018).
- 36.
Zizek (2019).
- 37.
- 38.
Savage (2017).
- 39.
Ferguson (2005).
- 40.
Immerwahr (2019).
- 41.
Ferguson (2018b).
- 42.
Kupchan (2018a).
- 43.
Kupchan (2018b).
- 44.
Chin (2014).
- 45.
Yoon (2015).
- 46.
Heydarian (2014).
- 47.
Allison (2017).
- 48.
Bloomberg (2018, September).
- 49.
Agence France-Presse (2018).
- 50.
Carroll (2005).
- 51.
Goldberg (2016).
- 52.
Chollet (2016).
- 53.
Nasr (2013).
- 54.
Greenert (2018).
- 55.
Pascual Jr. (2016).
- 56.
Trump (2017).
- 57.
Starr (2018).
- 58.
Yong (2018).
- 59.
Bloomberg (2018, August).
- 60.
Blumberg (2018).
- 61.
Friedman (2018).
- 62.
Kissinger (2012).
- 63.
Anderlini (2018).
- 64.
Ip (2018).
- 65.
Politico (2019).
- 66.
Kampbell and Ratner (2018).
- 67.
- 68.
Heydarian (2018a).
- 69.
Poast (2013).
- 70.
Woodward (2018).
- 71.
Discussions during a briefing by the author to a delegation of senior South Korean journalists organized by the US State Department in early November 2018.
- 72.
Heydarian (2018b).
- 73.
Heydarian (2018c).
- 74.
Hurst (2018).
- 75.
Hermansyah (2018).
- 76.
BBC News (2018).
References
Agence France-Presse. “China Bemoans ‘Confusing’ Us Signals but Holds Hope for a Trump-Xi Meet.” Manila Bulletin. October 15, 2018. https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/10/15/china-bemoans-confusing-us-signals-but-holds-hope-for-a-trump-xi-meet/.
Allison, Graham. “The Myth of the Liberal Order.” Foreign Affairs. June 14, 2018. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2018-06-14/myth-liberal-order.
Allison, Graham. “The Thucydides Trap.” Foreign Policy. June 9, 2017. https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/06/09/the-thucydides-trap/.
Anderlini, Jamil. “American Executives Are Becoming China Sceptics.” Financial Times. November 14, 2018. https://www.ft.com/content/389a92c2-e738-11e8-8a85-04b8afea6ea3.
BBC News. “EU Signs Its Biggest Free Trade Deal with Japan.” BBC News. July 17, 2018. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-44857317.
Bali, Asli, and Aziz Rana. “America’s Imperial Unraveling.” Boston Review. October 16, 2017. http://bostonreview.net/politics/asli-bali-aziz-rana-americas-imperial-unraveling.
Berlin, Isaiah. The Hedgehog and the Fox. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1953.
Bialik, Kristen. “How the World Views the U.S. and Its President in 9 Charts.” Pew Research Center. October 9, 2018. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/10/09/how-the-world-views-the-u-s-and-its-president-in-9-charts/.
Blumberg, Yoni. “Trump’s $250 Billion in China Tariffs Are Now in Effect—Here’s What Could Get More Expensive.” CNBC News. September 25, 2018. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/25/with-trumps-250-billion-in-china-tariffs-heres-what-will-cost-more.html.
Carroll, James. “Nixon’s Madman Strategy.” Boston.com. June 14, 2005. http://archive.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/06/14/nixons_madmanstrategy/.
Chin, Curtis. “Xi Jinping’s ‘Asia for Asians’ Mantra Evokes Imperial Japan.” The South China Morning Post. July 14, 2014. https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1553414/xi-jinpings-asia-asians-mantra-evokes-imperial-japan.
“China, Unsure of How to Handle Trump, Braces for ‘New Cold War’.” Bloomberg. August 17, 2018. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-08-17/china-unsure-of-how-to-handle-trump-braces-for-new-cold-war.
Chollet, Derek. The Long Game: How Obama Defied Washington and Redefined America’s Role in the World. New York: PublicAffairs, 2016.
Chua, Amy. Day of Empire: How Hyperpowers Rise to Global Dominance—And Why They Fall, p. XXII. New York: Anchor, 2009.
Ellwood, Charles A. “Making the World Safe for Democracy.” The Scientific Monthly 7, no. 6 (1918): 511–524. http://www.jstor.org/stable/7088.
Farhi, Paul. “What Really Gets Under Trump’s Skin? A Reporter Questioning His Net Worth.” The Washington Post. March 8, 2016. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/that-time-trump-sued-over-the-size-of-hiswallet.
Ferguson, Niall. “A Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad President Builds an Empire.” Boston Globe. June 11, 2018a. https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2018/06/11/terrible-horrible-good-very-bad-president-builds-empire.
Ferguson, Niall. “The Myth of the Liberal International Order.” Belfer Center. January 11, 2018b. https://www.belfercenter.org/publication/myth-liberal-international-order.
Ferguson, Niall. Colossus: The Rise and Fall of the American Empire. Westminster: Penguin Books, 2005.
Freedman, Lawrence. Strategy: A History. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015.
Friedman, Uri. “Donald Trump’s Real Endgame with China.” The Atlantic. October 4, 2018. https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/10/trump-china-trade/572122/.
Gaddis, John Lewis. On Grand Strategy. Westminster: Penguin Press, 2018.
Goldberg, Jeffrey. “A Senior White House Official Defines the Trump Doctrine: ‘We’re America, Bitch’.” The Atlantic. June 11, 2018. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/06/a-senior-white-house-official-defines-the-trump-doctrine-were-america-bitch/562511/.
Goldberg, Jeffrey. “The Obama Doctrine.” The Atlantic. April 2016. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/04/the-obama-doctrine/471525/.
“Gore Vidal Quotes: 26 of the Best.” The Guardian. August 1, 2012. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/aug/01/gore-vidal-best-quotes.
Greenert, Jonathan. “Tenets of a Regional Defense Strategy: Considerations for the Indo-Pacific.” The National Bureau of Asian Research, no. 72. August 21, 2018. https://www.nbr.org/publication/tenets-of-a-regional-defense-strategy-considerations-for-the-indo-pacific/.
Hermansyah, Anton. “Indonesia Targets to Conclude RCEP Negotiations This Year.” The Jakarta Post. April 24, 2018. https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2018/04/24/indonesia-targets-to-conclude-rcep-negotiations-this-year.html.
Heydarian, Richard Javad. “I Just Visited North Korea: Here Is What the World Needs to Know.” The National Interest. May 5, 2018a. https://nationalinterest.org/feature/i-just-visited-north-korea-here-what-the-world-needs-know-25708.
Heydarian, Richard Javad. “Middle Powers Step Up in Asia.” China-US Focus. October 24, 2018b. https://www.chinausfocus.com/foreign-policy/middle-powers-step-up-in-asia.
Heydarian, Richard Javad. “The Shangri-La Dialogue Takeaway: China’s Rapid Rise Is Redefining the Asian Order Like Never Before.” South China Morning Post. June 9, 2018c. https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2150001/shangri-la-dialogue-takeaway-chinas-rapid-rise.
Heydarian, Richard Javad. “This Is How a Superpower Commits Suicide.” New Perspectives Quarterly 35, no. 1 (2018d). https://doi.org/10.1111/npqu.12115.
Heydarian, Richard Javad. “The BRICS Bank: Multipolarity or Beijing Consensus?” Aljazeera. July 21, 2014. https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2014/07/brics-bank-beijing-consensus-201472183428811634.html.
Holland, Tom. Persian Fire: The First World Empire and the Battle for the West. New York: Anchor, 2007.
Hughes, Siobhan, and Josh Zumbrun. “Senate Approves Plan to Double Funding for Global Infrastructure Projects.” The Wall Street Journal. October 3, 2018. https://www.wsj.com/articles/senate-approves-plan-to-double-funding-for-global-infrastructure-projects-1538595889.
Hurst, Daniel. “Amid US Trade Tensions, Japan Formally Completes TPP-11 Entry.” The Diplomat. July 13, 2018. https://thediplomat.com/2018/07/amid-us-trade-tensions-japan-formally-completes-tpp-11-entry/.
Ikenberry, G. John. “The Plot Against American Foreign Policy.” Foreign Affairs. April 17, 2017. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2017-04-17/plot-against-american-foreign-policy.
Immerwahr, Daniel. “How the US Has Hidden Its Empire.” The Guardian. May 8, 2019. https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/feb/15/the-us-hidden-empire-overseas-territories-united-states-guam-puerto-rico-american-samoa.
“In New Trump Tariffs, China Sees Master Plan to Thwart Its Rise.” Bloomberg. September 18, 2018. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-09-18/in-new-trump-tariffs-china-sees-master-plan-to-thwart-its-rise.
Ip, Greg. “Once an Optimist on U.S.–China Relations, Henry Paulson Delivers a Sobering Message.” The Wall Street Journal. November 6, 2018. https://www.wsj.com/articles/once-an-optimist-on-u-s-china-relations-henry-paulson-delivers-a-sobering-message-1541548800.
ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. “How Do Southeast Asians View the Trump Administration?” ASEAN Studies Centre. April 5, 2017. https://www.iseas.edu.sg/images/centres/asc/pdf/ASCSurvey40517.pdf.
Kagan, Robert. “This Is How Fascism Comes to America.” The Washington Post. May 18, 2016. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/this-is-how-fascism-comes-toamerica/2016/05/17/.
Kampbell, Kurt, and Ely Ratner. “The China Reckoning.” Foreign Affairs. February 13, 2018. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2018-02-13/china-reckoning.
Kennan, George. American Diplomacy: 1900–1950. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1951.
Kissinger, Henry. On China. Westminster: Penguin Books, 2012.
Krugman, Paul. “Fall of the American Empire.” The New York Times. June 18, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/18/opinion/immigration-trump-children-american-empire.html.
Kupchan, Charles. “The Clash of Exceptionalisms.” Foreign Affairs. February 13, 2018a. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2018-02-13/clash-exceptionalisms.
Kupchan, Charles. “Trump’s Nineteenth-Century Grand Strategy.” Foreign Affairs. September 26, 2018b. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2018-09-26/trumps-nineteenth-century-grand-strategy.
Liu, Yadong. “How Trump’s Policies Are Helping China.” Foreign Affairs. September 28, 2018. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2018-09-28/how-trumps-policies-are-helping-china.
Mickey, Robert, Steven Levistsky, and Lucan Ahmad Way. “Is America Still Safe for Democracy?” Foreign Affairs. May/June 2017 Issue.
Nasr, Vali. “The Inside Story of How the White House Let Diplomacy Fail in Afghanistan.” Foreign Policy. March 4, 2013. https://foreignpolicy.com/2013/03/04/the-inside-story-of-how-the-white-house-let-diplomacy-fail-in-afghanistan/.
Nye, Joseph. “Will the Liberal Order Survive?” Foreign Affairs. December 12, 2016. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2016-12-12/will-liberal-order-survive.
Pascual Jr., Federico. “Aquino: US Brokered Failed Panatag Deal.” Philstar Global. May 31, 2016. https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2016/05/31/1588604/aquino-us-brokered-failed-panatag-deal.
Poast, Paul. “Issue Linkage and International Cooperation: An Empirical Investigation.” Conflict Management and Peace Science 30, no. 3. (2013): 286–303. https://doi.org/10.1177/0738894213484030.
Politico. “Bipartisan US Bill Seeks to Toughen Donald Trump’s Approach to China.” South China Morning Post. January 5, 2019. https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2180794/bipartisan-bill-seeks-toughen-trump-approach-china.
Rose, Gideon. “Present at the Destruction?” Foreign Affairs. May/June 2017. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2017-04-17/present-destruction.
Savage, Charlie. Power Wars: The Relentless Rise of Presidential Authority and Secrecy. New York: Back Bay Books, 2017.
Schake, Kori. “The Trump Doctrine Is Winning and the World Is Losing.” The New York Times. June 15, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/15/opinion/sunday/trump-china-america-first.
Starr, Barbara. “US Navy Proposing Major Show of Force to Warn China.” CNN Politics. October 4, 2018. https://edition.cnn.com/2018/10/03/politics/us-navy-show-of-force-china/index.html.
Trump, Donald. National Security Strategy of the United States of America. 2017. https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/NSS-Final-12-18-2017-0905.pdf.
Trump, Donald, and Tony Schwartz. Trump: The Art of the Deal. New York: Ballantine Books, 2015.
Tucker, Robert C. “The Theory of Charismatic Leadership.” Daedalus 97, no. 3 (1968): 731–756. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20023840.
Wike, Richard, et al. “U.S. Image Suffers as Publics Around World Question Trump’s Leadership.” Pew Research Center. June 26, 2017a. https://www.pewglobal.org/2017/06/26/u-s-image-suffers-as-publics-around-world-question-trumps-leadership/.
Wike, Richard, et al. “2. Worldwide, Few Confident in Trump or His Policies.” Pew Research Center. June 26, 2017b. https://www.pewglobal.org/2017/06/26/worldwide-few-confident-in-trump-or-his-policies/.
Wittkopf, Eugene, Christopher Jones Jr., and Charles Kegley. American Foreign Policy: Pattern and Process, 7th edition. Boston: Cengage Learning, 2007.
Woodward, Bob. Fear: Trump in the White House. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2018.
Wright, Thomas. “Trump’s 19th Century Foreign Policy.” Politico. January 20, 2016. https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/01/donald-trump-foreign-policy-213546.
Yong, Charissa. “US Announces US$300 Million to Fund Security Cooperation in Indo-Pacific Region.” The Straits Times. August 4, 2018. https://www.straitstimes.com/politics/us-pledges-nearly-us300-million-security-funding-for-south-east-asia.
Yoon, Young-kwan. “How the Vacuum Left by America Bolsters China’s ‘Asia for Asians’ Strategy.” Huffington Post. Last date modified April 4, 2015. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/china-asia-for-asians_b_6595550.
Zizek, Slavoj. Was Antigone a Man? Masculinity and Other Toxic Entities. Birkbeck, University of London. Podcast Audio. April 29, 2019. http://zizekpodcast.com/2019/05/01/ziz233-was-antigone-a-man-masculinity-and-other-toxic-entities-29-04-2019/.
Zumbrun, Josh, and Siobhan Hughes. “To Counter China, U.S. Looks to Invest Billions More Overseas.” The Wall Street Journal. August 31, 2018. https://www.wsj.com/articles/to-counter-china-u-s-looks-to-invest-billions-more-overseas-1535728206.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Heydarian, R.J. (2020). The Trump Doctrine: The Art of Creative Disruption. In: The Indo-Pacific: Trump, China, and the New Struggle for Global Mastery. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-9799-8_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-9799-8_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-13-9798-1
Online ISBN: 978-981-13-9799-8
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)