An article dated 3 October, 2018 by Judah Grunstein, Editor-in-Chief of World Politics Review, a New York-based bipartisan publication, points out that President Trump's much-hyped transformational foreign policy initiatives are beginning to look like old wine in a new bottle bearing his name. Examples include his latest declared triumph on reinventing NAFTA (North America Free Trade Agreement), his tactic on NATO members to pay more, his deal on North Korea, and his trade talks with the European Union which borrow heavily from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) which he has torn up.
The article contends -
"That means that the other major crises on Trump’s docket, rather than escalating, might end up being defused in a similar fashion. Certainly China will try to wind down its own trade war with the U.S. by offering enough superficial concessions to allow Trump to declare victory and come home. Iran, too, might begin to see the appeal of pursuing a Trump-rebranded nuclear accord that differs only marginally from the one he withdrew from in May."
"On the more worrying side, NAFTA and NATO both have long-standing constituencies in the U.S. that make tearing them up politically costly".
"It’s possible that the U.S. might have benefited from the approach that fueled Trump’s rise in the early years of his public life. A brash risk-taker who questioned sacred cows and challenged conventional wisdoms might have reinvigorated U.S. foreign policy in the face of a rising China and resurgent Russia. Instead, the later Trump has prevailed, promising much, delivering little and making sure his name is featured prominently on the marquee."
Whether the article's assertions turn out to be fully substantiated remains to be seen. The litmus tests are over North Korea, Iran and China. Nevertheless, evidence shows that there is already more than a grain of truth in Grunstein's observations.
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