Further Back to the Future

Neo-Royalism, the Trump Administration, and the Emerging International System

Bibliographic Data

ID6270128
AuthorsStacie E Goddard (0000-0003-1891-636X, Wellesley College, corresponding author), Abraham L Newman (0000-0003-4105-1229, Georgetown University), Abraham Newman (Georgetown University)
Year2025
Volume79
IssueS1
PagesS12-S25
Publication date2025-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Organization (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0020-8183 • E-ISSN: 1531-5088
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0020818325101057
OpenAlexW7106111291
LanguageEN
Citations received15

With the Liberal International Order (LIO) in decline, scholars have focused increasingly on the possible return to a Westphalian great power system marked by sovereigntist claims and balancing among states. The actions of the Trump administration, however, raise a number of significant puzzles for such accounts—the US seems willing to sign deals with traditional adversaries including Russia and China, while targeting long-standing allies like Canada and Denmark. At the same time, transactional politics often serve narrow personalist interests rather than national objectives. In short, a Westphalian lens focused on states and sovereignty may generate intellectual blinders that misreads the emerging international order. To overcome these limitations, we propose an alternative account, which we label neo-royalism. The neo-royalist order centers on an international system structured by a small group of hyper elites, which we term cliques. Such cliques seek to legitimize their authority through appeals to their exceptionalism in order to generate durable material and status hierarchies based on the extraction of financial and cultural tributes. This short paper lays out the key elements of the neo-royalist order, differentiating it from the Westphalian and Liberal International Orders, and applies its insights to better grapple with the emerging system being promoted by the United States under Donald J. Trump. For policymakers and scholars, the neo-royalist approach clarifies recent events in US foreign policy. Theoretically, the field should take contending ideas of international order seriously, and establish a research agenda beyond a backward looking view to the Westphalian moment

Exceptionalism · Field (mathematics) · Foreign policy · International relations · Order (exchange) · Politics · Sovereignty · Westphalian sovereignty · Canadian Policy and Governance · International Relations and Foreign Policy · State Capitalism and Financial Governance

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