Trying to get a grasp on President Donald Trump’s foreign policy can be a maddening exercise. Let’s just look at the last six months or so: The Trump administration detained Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. It threatened to take over Greenland by force. It talked about toppling Cuba next. It openly talked about annexing Canada to make it the 51st state. And, of course, it launched a war in Iran that has killed thousands; choked off the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil; and sent shudders through the global economy.
You may be asking: Why? Is Trump trying to revive some sort of American empire? Is he just trying to flex American muscle around the globe? Does he have any cohesive plan at all? And, oh yeah, what happened to his campaign promise of not getting the US into unnecessary wars?
If you ask Northwestern University historian Daniel Immerwahr—which we did—he’ll tell you that the Trump administration is systemically undermining the post-World War II international order, a system that the US itself largely built. Why exactly? Listen to this week’s More To The Story with Al Letson to find out.
—Josh Sanburn
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