November 23, 2016
Deciphering Trump's Asia Policy
What "America First" Will Mean for Regional Order
Scholars who claim to know with any certainty how U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s foreign policy will crystalize are engaging in tenuous prophecy. As they and the United States’ international partners strain to determine the contours of his plans, however, there are at least two groups of source material on which they can draw. The first is Trump’s statements on foreign policy during his campaign; the second is the writings of his closest national security advisers.
When it comes to the president-elect’s approach to Asia, these two sets of evidence point in different directions: one toward retrenchment and the other toward unilateralism. Yet these divergent visions have something important in common. Neither calls for a foreign policy centered around the system of alliances, rules, and norms that have underpinned the United States’ leadership of the international order since 1945. Together with the deep uncertainty surrounding Trump’s objectives for Asia and the tools he has suggested he will use to pursue them, the absence of principled and predictable U.S. leadership could lead to a destabilizing shift in the regional balance of power in the near term.
Read the full piece at Foreign Affairs
More from CNAS
-
Hold a Quad Summit
Commentary
President Trump should hold a Quad summit during his first 100 days in office to demonstrate the administration’s commitment to the Indo-Pacific region.Australia, India, Japan...
By Lisa Curtis
-
Articulate a Comprehensive, Coherent China Strategy
Commentary
President Trump should articulate a comprehensive, coherent China strategy that addresses U.S. objectives, the ways and means to achieve them, and how the strategy can mitigat...
By Jacob Stokes
-
China Is Just Fine With North Korean Troops in Ukraine
Commentary
North Korea's vital support for Russia's war directly supports the rise of the Axis of Upheaval....
By Jacob Stokes
-
The Sound of Ideas
Video
Richard Fontaine, the chief executive officer of the Center for a New American Security, joins to discuss the future of U.S. foreign policy. Watch the full episode on The Oh...
By Richard Fontaine
