Unmaking American greatness: Trump, populism, and American foreign policy

Rob Rabel and Malcolm McKinnon review American foreign policy over the past seven decades and its struggles with isolationism.

Spotlight Lecture Series

October 2018

In keeping with his promises to “put America first”, Donald Trump has presided over a dramatic eroding of America’s leadership in the foreign policy community. The isolationist position of Trump’s administration is not unique, but is in fact the most recent version of a theme in American politics that has been bubbling under the surface for decades. To what extent is Trump undermining a long-established American foreign policy consensus with his America-first approach, and can it be recovered in the future?

Victoria University of Wellington’s Emeritus Professor Rob Rabel and Associate Professor Malcolm McKinnon review American foreign policy over the past seven decades and its struggles with isolationism.

Emeritus Professor Rob Rabel is a professorial fellow in the University’s Centre for Strategic Studies and national vice-president of the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. Associate Professor Malcolm McKinnon teaches in the Political Science and International Relations programme at the University.

The Victoria University of Wellington Spotlight Series Lectures—An opportunity to sample the research undertaken by University academics, in bite-sized lunchtime lectures.

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