Page 46 - Issue 71
P. 46

VOL.1 , ISSUE 71OL.1 , ISSUE 71
         V                                                                               ELITE





              Panama Canal.

                                                                  Consistent with this view, Trump’s attack on
                                                                  the West was evident in his confrontational
                                                                  approach  to  the  EU,  G7,  and  NATO.
                                                                  During  his  second  administration,  Trump
                                                                  imposed 10 to 20 % tariffs on EU members.
                                                                  The U.S foreign policy towards the EU and

                                                                  NATO  members  took  a  more  critical  and
                                                                  increased  intensity  in  demanding  a  share
                                                                  burden in the defense budget, claiming that
             Trump’s  mentality  and  leadership  style  can      the US was protecting Europeans who were
             often  be  classified  as  “one-man  policy,”        more busy achieving welfare ambitions. This
             which     emphasizes     unilateral   action,        increasing  tension  led  the  EU,  in  turn,  to
             including  direct  executive  orders  over           take   its   safety   precautions    through

             multilateral cooperation.                            rearmament,  depending  on  itself  and
             In  addition  to  his  imposition  of  the           increasing its defense spending from 1.9% to
             principle  of  power  over  the  principles  of      5% by 2030.
             international  law  and  his  character  that
             favors transactional diplomacy in which he
             desires  to  achieve  a  deal  that  trades
             something  for  another  else,  and  that  can
             involve anything that comes to mind. Thus,
             this article seeks to explain and analyze how
             Trump defines American national interest in
             his  second  administration  and  to  what
             extent  these  policies  have  altered  principal
             patterns  in  the  international  system  and
             international norms.                                 All  these  mentioned  policies  and  changes
                                                                  took place only in the first 6 months of his
             Adopting  “America  First”  policy  reflected
             how  Trump  attempted  to  make  major               presidential  term,  and  they  do  not  even
             changes  in  the  international  system.  This       account for all other changes that are taking
             approach not only emphasized protectionist           place  in  the  international  system.  the  most

             policies  that  might  lead  to  isolationist        important challenge that can affect us in the
             tendencies due to imposing tariffs on almost         Middle  East  is  if  major  rivals  made  a
             every  trading  country,  not  to  mention  that     “transactional”   deal    and    reached    a
             they  were  essentially  targeting  China,  but      consensus  that  serves  their  interest  and
             also this approach favors American national          harms  ours,  and  this  is  not  an  unlikely
             interest over international commitments and          scenario.
             alliancies. This can also explain the repeated
             pattern of unpredictable policies.








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