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2024 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

Conservative American Nationalism Versus Progressive Internationalism: The Trump–Biden Foreign Policy Doctrines Compared

Author : Stanley A. Renshon

Published in: Presidential Leadership and Foreign Policy

Publisher: Springer Nature Switzerland

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Abstract`

This chapter analyzes the puzzling amalgam of President Biden’s foreign policy initiatives and former President Donald Trump’s widely misunderstood doctrine of “America First.” Mr. Biden’s policies build on Barack Obama's foreign policy foundations, yet take them in a clearly more progressive direction. His progressive internationalism retains a core element of traditional liberal internationalism. That is reflected in his strong support of the Ukraine in response to the Russian invasion, and his more equivocal support of Israel after the October 7 Hamas attack, which amounts to the use of a containment strategy. Yet, Mr. Biden seeks to be a transformational leader both at home and abroad, applying progressive assumptions and policies in both areas. President Trump’s widely misunderstood policy of “America First,” places him squarely in the realist tradition of Hans Morgenthau and John Mearsheimer, both successors to Jacksonian populist nationalism. Trump’s doctrine stresses having the varied elements of national power—military, economic, political, and cultural—available for use, and developing a reputation for being willing to use them. It also reflects an emphasis on American National Identity as a cornerstone of America’s essential relationship with itself and the world and as well a highly selective involvement, with an emphasis on its own interests, in defining America’s role in the world.

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next chapter The Biden and Trump Doctrines in Comparative Perspective

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In first days of the Russian invasion, the administration offered to evacuate President Volodymyr Zelensky (Braithwaite, 2023), an offer he refused by saying, ‘I need ammunition, not a ride.’

Cf., “In my campaign for president, I made it very clear, that the moment it arrived as a nation, where we faced deep racial inequities in America and systemic racism that has plagued our nation for far, far too long.” See Biden (2021, emphasis mine).

One among many of these multiple executive orders dealing with the same issues was (White House, 2021a) an, “Executive Order On Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government.”

Cf., Spoehr (2022) notes that, “President Biden signed an executive order in 2021 requiring all organizations in the military—as well as in the rest of the federal government—to create Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) offices, to produce strategic DEI plans, and to create bureaucratic structures to report on progress towards DEI goals.”

Cf., The Council on Foreign Relations notes (2021), “The Joe Biden administration has announced it will establish the first-ever White House Gender Policy Council to coordinate federal efforts to advance gender equity and equality at home and abroad.”

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Title: Conservative American Nationalism Versus Progressive Internationalism: The Trump–Biden Foreign Policy Doctrines Compared
Author: Stanley A. Renshon
Publisher: Springer Nature Switzerland
Book: Presidential Leadership and Foreign Policy
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-52798-2

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-031-52799-9

Copyright Year: 2024
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-52799-9_1