Illiberal and irrational? Trump and the challenge of liberal modernity in US foreign policy
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 5033504 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Haro L Karkour (0000-0002-7732-9344, University of Birmingham, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 35 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 533-550 |
| Publication date | 2021-12-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | International Relations (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0047-1178 • E-ISSN: 1741-2862 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0047117820954231 |
| OpenAlex | W3082311038 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
Building on a growing body of literature on the application of Morgenthau's ethics to post-Cold War US foreign policy, this article applies Morgenthau's concept of irrationality to Trump's foreign policy. Based on this application, the article highlights the limit of rationality in Morgenthau's theoretical analysis. Specifically, the article argues, pace neo-realist critiques of 'liberal hegemony', that Trump reveals an empirical puzzle: US foreign policy can be both irrational and illiberal simultaneously in the pursuit of nationalistic universalism. This is the case, the article argues, because nationalistic universalism in Morgenthau's analysis is not rooted in liberalism per se but the dynamics of liberal modernity. The Trump puzzle thus reveals an on-going tension between rationality and liberal modernity in Morgenthau's theoretical analysis: rationality offers an insufficient tool to take upon the challenge of liberal modernity from which Trump's nationalistic universalism stems. This, the article concludes, leaves Morgenthau's concept of interest 'defined in terms of power' open to misappropriation to ends contrary to their original aim: furthering nationalistic universalism, rather than limiting power
Economics · Foreign policy · Law and economics · Liberalism · Modernity · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Power (physics) · Rationality · Sociology · Universalism · Global Peace and Security Dynamics · International Relations and Foreign Policy · Law · War, Ethics, and Justification
From Domestic Contestation to Alpha Male Foreign Policy
Liberal modernity and the classical realist critique of the (present) international order
What drives continuity and change in foreign policy? Developing a theory with the cases of multilateral development banks and Unesco
Dynastic International Relations
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2022 - 2026 (5) |
| Highly cited | No |