Clean Up on the Foreign-Policy Aisle
Trump’s Cabinet is always at the ready with brooms and mops to clean up the commander-in-chief’s errant outbursts. But does the administration have a real strategy?
On this week’s first episode of The E.R., David Rothkopf, Derek Chollet, Kori Schake, and new guest — FP’s executive editor for news Sharon Weinberger — discuss the latest bizarre and troubling behavior from the U.S. president over the last week. From his affinity toward strongmen to his speech declaring war against the media, it’s just one thing after another. But, as one panelist points out, how much does this nonsense really matter when it comes to policy change in the long run? Will these irrational, impetuous comments, likely forgotten in a few months, really shift the scope of policy? Maybe we should all be paying less attention to Trump’s Twitter account and more attention to the actual policymakers within the administration.
On this week’s first episode of The E.R., David Rothkopf, Derek Chollet, Kori Schake, and new guest — FP’s executive editor for news Sharon Weinberger — discuss the latest bizarre and troubling behavior from the U.S. president over the last week. From his affinity toward strongmen to his speech declaring war against the media, it’s just one thing after another. But, as one panelist points out, how much does this nonsense really matter when it comes to policy change in the long run? Will these irrational, impetuous comments, likely forgotten in a few months, really shift the scope of policy? Maybe we should all be paying less attention to Trump’s Twitter account and more attention to the actual policymakers within the administration.
The discussion then turns to the ultimate question: is there a grand foreign-policy strategy? Perhaps we’re all being fooled and there is some master plan behind Trump’s peculiar behavior and odd penchant for authoritarian leaders. Yeah, probably not. But with U.S. foreign policy and influence potentially shifting dramatically over the next two years, who will gain from these changing winds?
Sharon Weinberger is FP’s executive editor for news. She is also the author of The Imagineers of War: The Untold Story of DARPA, the Pentagon Agency that Changed the World. Follow her on Twitter: @weinbergersa.
Derek Chollet is a contributing editor to FP’s Shadow Government blog. He is also executive vice president and senior advisor for security and defense policy at the German Marshall Fund. He’s the former U.S. assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs and is the author of The Long Game: How Obama Defied Washington and Redefined America’s Role in the World. Follow him on Twitter: @derekchollet.
Kori Schake is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, where she focuses on military history, and a former foreign-policy advisor to Sen. John McCain. Follow her on Twitter: @KoriSchake.
David Rothkopf is the CEO and editor of the FP Group. Follow him on Twitter: @djrothkopf.
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