A nation must think before it acts.
These articles span the timeline of Donald Trump’s journey to the oval office – written during his fight for the Republican Party nomination and his campaign against Hillary Clinton and after his victory in November. Read through our archive to gain an understanding of who our new President is, his positions on Asia, Russia, the Middle East, and American commitments abroad, as well as the team that he has assembled. Notably, in his March 2016 essay on divining the “Trump Doctrine,” John Haines, after excavating everything Trump has said or written on foreign policy over the past twenty years, encapsulated Trump’s views with the phrase “America First” – BEFORE Trump’s first use of that phrase.
For additional reading, the Winter 2017 edition of Orbis: FPRI’s Journal of World Affairs is dedicated to the topic of “Advice to the New President.”
Who Is Donald Trump?
Divining a “Trump Doctrine”: Finding the Contours of Donald Trump’s Foreign & National Security Policy
John R. Haines
March 18, 2016
Art of the Doge?
Walter A. McDougall
January 6, 2017
President Trump
Ronald J. Granieri
January 3, 2017
Searching for a Trump Grand Strategy
Nikolas K. Gvosdev & Derek S. Reveron
November 15, 2016
Nemesis: Donald Trump and the Future of American Politics
Ronald J. Granieri
September 17, 2015
The Foreign Policy Views of Donald Trump
James Woolley
August 2016
The New Administration
Tillerson the Realist
Colin Dueck
January 16, 2017
Can James Mattis Protect Trump From Hubris?
Dominic Tierney
January 14, 2017
A Presidential Strategy Board: Enabling Strategic Competence
Frank G. Hoffman
Janury 3, 2017
Strategic Planning for the New Administration
Colin Dueck
December 2016
Why Donald Trump Needs David Petraeus
Dominic Tierney
November 29, 2016
American Commitments Abroad
Another Brick in the Wall: Northern Mexico and the Trump Presidency
David Danelo
December 6, 2016
8 Foreign Policy Questions Trump Needs to Ask
Derek S. Reveron & Nikolas K. Gvosdev
November 21, 2016
Foreign Policy Challenges Facing the Next American President
Ronald J. Granieri
November 8, 2016
Trump’s Position on Treaty Commitments Has Already Hurt America
The Hon. Dov S. Zakheim
July 22, 2016
How NATO’s Fear of Trump Benefits America
Nikolas K. Gvosdev
June 15, 2016
When Border Walls Work (and Don’t): An Open Memorandum to Mr. Trump
John R. Haines
May 18, 2016
Donald Trump Folds the Nuclear Umbrella: Is American Extended Deterrence Passé?
John R. Haines
April 1, 2016
Asia
Trump and Taiwan: A Fresh Start or a Turn for the Worse?
June Teufel Dreyer
January 17, 2017
Japanese Media on the Impact of Donald Trump’s Election on Japan and China
Gilbert Rozman
December 16, 2016
Facing China: Policy Challenges for the Trump Administration in East Asia
Jacques deLisle
December 16, 2016
What Trump Should Do about China
June Teufel Dreyer
December 16, 2016
Trump and Tsai: A Sign of Things to Come?
Thomas J. Shattuck
December 6, 2016
Red State China? Why China (Sort of) Likes Trump
Jacques deLisle
July 29, 2016
Russia
Trump, Putin, and the Art of Appeasement
Dominic Tierney
December 15, 2016
The U.S.-Russia Relationship: Trump Can’t Fix It, but He Can’t Break It, Either
Colonel Robert E. Hamilton
December 6, 2016
Trolling for Trump: How Russia is Trying to Destroy Our Democracy
Clint Watts, Andrew Weisburd, and JM Berger
November 6, 2016
How Russia Dominates Your Twitter Feed to Promote Lies (And, Trump, Too)
Clint Watts & Andrew Weisburd
August 6, 2016
Trump’s Dangerous Bromance with Putin Is a National Security Threat
Stephen Blank
August 3, 2016
Donald Trump & Vladimir Putin: A dangerous duo
Naveed Jamali
July 28, 2016
Commentary: Russia and Japan are Drawing Closer. Is Trump Helping?
Nikolas K. Gvosdev
October 6, 2016
Middle East
Why al Qaeda and Islamic State Threats To Attack
The West Should Be Taken More Seriously Now
Clint Watts
January 18, 2017
Donald Trump’s Excellent Middle East Adventure
Adam Garfinkle
December 7, 2016
Suspend the Iran Nuclear Agreement, Mr. Trump
John R. Haines
November 16, 2016
Donald Trump on ISIS: Being Wrong, and Saying It Wrong, Too
John R. Haines
August 15, 2016
Donald Trump is Woefully Unprepared to Handle ISIS
Naveed Jamali
March 22, 2016