Chapter 5
Study Guide by James R. Martin, Ph.D., CMA
Professor Emeritus, University of South Florida
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Chapter 5: A Weakness for Strongmen
The author begins this chapter with a discussion of the presidents behavior at the 2018 G7 summit. The Group of Seven (the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom) meet on a regular basis to discuss economic and security issues. The president had recently placed tariffs on several members of the group and considered avoiding the meeting altogether, but didn't have a suitable excuse. Trump arrived late and criticized the other leaders about their unfair trade practices. Then he alarmed everyone at the summit by asking for Russia to be readmitted into the G7 meetings. The president questioned why the allies would meet if Moscow wasn't included. It was like Putin had written Trump's talking points. Then he left the summit early and added insult to injury with a tweet storm criticizing the Canadian prime minister as "so meek and mild...very dishonest & weak," and that he was backing out of a joint statement that he had signed only hours earlier with the other leaders.
Trump doesn't seem to understand that national security is the most important responsibility of the commander in chief, and the primary domain for this is foreign policy. Our national security requires the president to have clear-cut plans with like-minded allies to keep dangerous adversaries at arm's length. But Trump is distancing himself from America's friends and instead courting our enemies abandoning a century-long consensus about America's role as the leader of the free world.
Empire of Liberty
Although America began as an isolationist country, it evolved into an "empire of liberty" after it boldly intervened in World War I and turned the tide against fascism. The idea of shaping a more democratic world became a unifying theme for both parties. Woodrow Wilson (Democrat) and Dwight Eisenhower (Republican) promoted the principles of liberty and freedom. This emphasis on supporting democracy around the world continued until Donald Trump was elected. Trump is an outlier who complains that we have subsidized other countries while neglecting our own infrastructure and allowed our wealth, strength, and the confidence in our country to decline. However, these are false claims based on a myopic and short-sighted view of history. What has actually happened is that we have played an active role in changing the world from one of almost entirely dictatorships and monarchies to a world of mainly democratic nations. America's efforts have opened markets for our goods, facilitated the spread of freedom and knowledge and helped us develop partners who have our back in times of trouble. America would be far worse off if isolationism had been our theme rather than advancing freedom and democracy.
Although rising nations are competing against the United States, competition is not the problem. What we should be concerned about is that some of those rivals do not share our values and are trying to destroy the world that America built. To counter this movement away from freedom and democracy we should be deepening our relationships with our allies, not shifting America into reverse. The president's recent actions are not placing us in a position to strengthen liberty around the world, but instead leave us vulnerable to our power-hungry competitors.
More Unpredictable
Donald Trump's foreign policy is based on "America First," an old isolationist motto used by those who were apposed to America's involvement in World War II. Trump said "We must be more unpredictable," and that has essentially become the president's foreign policy: unpredictability.
Trump chose Rex Tillerson as secretary of state and General Jim Mattis as secretary of defense. Neither of these men shared Trump's isolationist, what's-in-it-for-me attitude towards foreign policy. Mike Flynn was chosen for the president's security advisor, but was replaced by General H. R. McMaster who hopefully would bring order to the president's security team and keep everyone on the same page on foreign policy. The problem was that no one knew what page the president was on because unpredictability was his guiding principle. US allies were constantly in the dark. Some begged the White House staff to get Trump to stop tweeting, but Trump's tweets-turned-crises abroad continued to grow. General McMaster had his staff develop a paper extolling the importance of US alliances, hailing institutions like NATO, and calling for tougher actions against rivals like Russia and North Korea. Trump didn't care and didn't read it. Everyone was left in the dark including the agencies responsible for implementing the president's policies, and our allies who are unable to coordinate with us effectively.
Blinded by the Might
Donald Trump mocked President Obama's diplomatic efforts to communicate with the Chinese, Saudi, and Cuban dictators, but Trump lavishes them with praise. He applauded Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte for cracking down on drugs (murdering suspects without a trial), claimed Turkish president Recep Erdogan as a friend after he jailed political opponents, and failed to criticize the Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman after the intelligence community blamed him for the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi. Instead Trump said he liked the prince and added that the Saudi leader had denied any involvement in Khashoggi's death. Then he thanked the prince for keeping oil prices low.
The worse case of Trump's submission to autocrats is showcased by his relationship with Vladimir Putin. Trump regularly applauds Putin and denies Russia's involvement in the 2016 election. When Congress sanctioned Russia in 2017, Trump was furious. In response to the sanctions Russia kicked out hundreds of US embassy staff from their country. Trump's response was to thank Putin for cutting down on the US payroll. The author says Trump's attitude towards Putin still puzzles the White House staff, but his admiration for the Russian leader is very bad for the United States because Putin is an adversary rather than a friend. Trump's private meetings with Putin have taken their relationship to a different level. Trump insisted on having a private two-hour meeting with the Russian president in Helsinki with no advisors present. Trump's secretive interactions with foreign leaders is concerning because we know from the Ukraine scandal that it is not beneath him to ask for personal favors and perhaps even more inappropriate requests. If the president is reelected, he will certainly make other dishonorable requests of foreign governments that Americans are unlikely to know about.
Because of Trump's cavalier attitude towards the Russian security threat Moscow has not been deterred from attacking American interest. In January 2019 Dan Coats testified that Russia was still involved in sowing social, racial, and political discord in the United States. Robert Mueller testified to Congress that "It wasn't a single attempt. They're are doing it as we sit here. And they expect to do it during the next Campaign." Although this should be a national scandal, it is being ignored by the president. The best way to describe the president's attitude towards our enemies is "willful ignorance."
North Korea provides another troubling example. After threatening North Korea with "fire and fury," Trump agreed to meet with Kim Jog Un after it was reported that Kim wanted to meet Trump personally. The White House staff thought it was a bad idea, but the president was carried away with theatrics over substance. The great deal maker wanted to make a deal, and Kim knew it. The resulting summit in Singapore flopped and didn't produce any meaningful results, but Trump said he and Kim "fell in love." The president seems to have lost sight of reality. North Korea's government has always been untrustworthy, and is performing the same song and dance it always has in the past.
Why is the president so attracted to autocrats? Perhaps, as a top national security aid suggested its because they have what he wishes he had: "total power, no term limits, enforced popularity, and the ability to silence critics for good." But Trump has no coherent agenda for dealing with these rivals because he doesn't see them as long-term threats. He only seeks short-term deals. The president doesn't see that the governments of China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea are programmed against the US because they do not share our values. They do not stand for the free and open international order that America built. Instead, they will try to shape the world in their own image. Trump seems to have no plan for dealing with these countries except for his unpredictability. Trump's keep-them-guessing strategy is in effect an acknowledgement of a man without a plan. Our adversaries recognize that the president is visibly moved by flattery, folds in negotiations, and is willing to make a deal if it makes him look good, whether its a good deal or not.
Alienating Allies
President Trump frequently alienates America's most important allies and personally criticizes their leaders. Canada's prime minister has been referred to by Trump as "very dishonest & weak." The president of France was mocked by Trump on Twitter for his low approval ratings and high unemployment. Trump criticized German Chancellor Angela Merkel's administration for being free loaders and taking advantage of US generosity. The president also scolded Great Britain and Prime Minister Theresa May for failing to rein in extremism. He called the British ambassador "a very stupid guy," "wacky," and a "pompous fool," and called the prime minister's policies a disaster. Trump has also hit our Western partners with trade penalties saying the economic practices of Europe are unfair. He has also been critical of our agreements with South Korea and Japan. All of this presidential behavior is significantly damaging US security and credibility. Trump has repeatedly astounded advisors by saying he wants to exit from NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization), our biggest alliance. Although America has carried most of the military burden, the NATO alliance has allowed us to protect our influence globally and stop threats before they reach our shores. Leaving the alliance would be foolish and suicidal.
Americans should care about our foreign policy because it will determine whether the United States is safe in the long run. Cooperation is a key to winning any competition and to survive and thrive on the world stage requires that we cooperate with our allies, not push them away. But our allies no longer trust us because they find the president's attitude toward them demeaning. He lies to their faces, offers false assurance of his support and bullies them into submission. Alienating our closest partners is placing the United States at risk.
The Choice
After three years of a Trump presidency the world is not sure whether we are still on the side of freedom, have become a spectator, or are in the process of joining a small club of thugs. Surveys show that America's international image has plummeted under Trump with favorable views of the United States at record lows in many countries. Trump's leadership makes it appear that the United States has switched sides in global politics. If we are going to maintain the goals of America's past (peace, stability, progress, and freedom of mankind), our leaders must be very clear about who is a friend and who is a foe. This is perhaps the most important job of the president, but on this President Trump has failed us badly.
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Go to the next Chapter. Chapter 6: The New Mason-Dixon Line. (Summary).
Related summaries:
Crossan, M., W. Furlong and R. D. Austin. 2022. Make leader character your competitive edge. MIT Sloan Management Review (Fall): 1-12. This article includes a leader character framework. (Summary).
Hornsey, M. J. and K. S. Fielding. 2017. Attitude roots and Jiu Jitsu persuasion: Understanding and overcoming the motivated rejection of science. American Psychologist 72(5): 459-473. (Summary).
Martin, J. R. Not dated. Policies of a Second Trump Presidency.
Martin, J. R. Not dated. Summary of Trump's Seven Part Plan to Overturn the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election.
Rosenfeld, G. D. (Editor) and J. Ward (Editor). 2023. Fascism in America: Past and Present. Cambridge University Press. (Summary).
Thurow, L. 1996. The Future of Capitalism: How Today's Economic Forces Shape Tomorrow's World. William Morrow and Company. See Chapter 13: Democracy Versus the Market. (Summary).
Unger, C. 2018. House of Trump, House of Putin: The Untold Story of Donald Trump and the Russian Mafia. Dutton. (Note).
