Trump’s Grand Strategy: The Obama Doctrine Through the Lens of America First (original) (raw)

American Grand Strategy from Obama to Trump

The previous chapter provided a comprehensive picture of Obama's grand strategy. Looking at Obama's foreign policy in Europe and the Middle East, on the one hand, while, on the other hand, dissecting his strategy towards China and the broader Asia-Pacific region, it was argued that Obama did have a consistent grand strategy: it was based on offshore balancing, which rejected military interventionism, and displayed a renewed geostrategic focus toward Asia-and above all China. It was the product of a reaction to a post-American geopolitical world order, the historical US open-door stance, and the president's operational code. As a new chapter begins, it is important to keep this picture in mind because Trump's grand strategy has been in strong continuity with Obama's grand strategy. Yet, even if there is a clear strategic continuity between the two, their ideological differences explain much of Trump's tactical change compared to his predecessor. From an American viewpoint, Obama's and Trump's long-term policy objectives with regard to the Middle East, Europe, NATO, Russia, and China were similar. However, Trump had a different approach to US policy in these areas. While also maintaining a posture of offshore balancing, Trump continued Obama's agenda in the Middle East and Europe, although in an idiosyncratic manner. Furthermore, the Trump Administration was even more explicit than Obama in making Asia and China a priority. Yet, Trump operationalized his grand