On July 21, 2017 a magazine, Foreign Policy published an article by the title ‘There is No Trump Doctrine, and There Will Never Be One’. It might be correct that Trump has not been successful in forming a grand strategy but it is pertinent to mention here that President Trump has been in a severe media war long before his rise to power. How could a president even contemplate about devising and outlining a grand strategy when he is under constant, severe and unprecedented fire, or more concisely a war, by the media? Perhaps in this war and under the thick and dense ‘fog of war’ – pundits cannot foresee the Trump Doctrine. How and why would American media, journalists and academics expect a grand strategy from Trump? All the way during his campaign, Trump made claims and assertions that pretty much lacked any traces of a grand strategy. President Trump is a revisionist and apart from his slogan of ‘Make America Great Again’ his focus would remain on internal matters.
It is clear that American power and influence is declining. The primary reason for this decline is over-stretched US military forces around the globe. McMaster and Cohn tried to answer this by saying that “by asking for more buy-in, we have deepened our relationships”. Alliances based on mutual respect and shared responsibilities are strong – and strong alliances “bolster American power.”
Trump’s National Security Adviser Lt. Gen. McMaster and Gary D. Cohn, Director of the National Economic Council said in the Wall Street Journal article ‘America First Doesn’t Mean America Alone’, published in May 2017, outlined or perhaps tried to outline the basic contours of the Trump Doctrine. Both men argued that Trump’s ‘America First’ rhetoric isn’t isolating America in the world politics, but is in fact the instrument by which America will regain dominance in the world and strengthen relationships with its allies and partners. One thing that McMaster and Cohn have perhaps acknowledged is that Trump facilitated $110 billion in defence and nearly $270 billion in agreements with private-sector enterprises – and it reflects as a sign of weakness in American economy. These confessions by McMaster and Cohn also mirror that perhaps China somehow has been able to leave America behind in maximizing foreign direct investments and minimizing trade deficits as well.
It is clear that American power and influence is declining. The primary reason for this decline is the over-stretch of US Military Forces around the globe. McMaster and Cohn tried to answer this by saying that “by asking for more buy-in, we have deepened our relationships”. Alliances based on mutual respect and shared responsibilities are strong – and strong alliances “bolster American power.” Trump asking of more money from Germany for NATO and on withdrawing forces from Afghanistan are examples of what William C. Martel called ‘striking a balance between its security ends and economic means’. The author of this piece in its previous articles argued that Trump made the best decision in choosing Gen. Mattis, Gen. Kelly and Lt. Gen McMaster as Defence Secretary, Secretary Homeland Security and National Security Adviser respectively. It is very much evident that Lt. Gen McMaster has been instrumental in shaping the foundations of the Trump Doctrine.
Constanze Stelzenmüller, in her article for Brookings, revealed one astonishing thing that Lt. Gen McMaster and Gary D. Cohn are ‘two men truly are the adult minders in charge of making sure that this administration reverts to the norm, and that the efforts of its most ideological members are contained.’ Perhaps she has pointed her fingers at Steve Bannon, Kelly Ann Conway and Sebastian Gorka and other ‘White Nationalist/Supremacist’ elements within Trump administration.
William C. Martel was an American professor and in his book Grand Strategy in Theory and Practice he outlined four approaches towards American Grand Strategy – namely through the lens of American history, lens of theory, by the product of policy makers and practitioners, and dominated by military strategists i.e. through the lens of military strategy. Martel in his 2014 article ‘America’s Grand Strategy Disaster’ argued that America was focusing on. ‘broad disengagement from world affairs’ and further called it as ‘leading from behind’. McMaster and Cohn in their May 2017 article gave answer to these two basic objections raised by Martel.
One important thing that William C. Martel indicated in his book was that grand strategy doesn’t work or perhaps results in a failure if the thought process for a grand strategy begins just close of a crisis or impending peril. By keeping in view Martel’s assertion, American nation is facing an economic crisis – McMaster and Cohn’s claim of $110 billion in defence investments and nearly $270 billion in agreements can be taken as an example. Also, Trump’s rhetoric of ‘bring jobs back home’ is another example of American economy being in tatters.
The whole point of the debate is clear that there is no doubt about that America currently lacks any grand strategy; nevertheless, it has a doctrine – The Trump Doctrine with realpolitik as its guiding principle. It is completely opposite to the Obama doctrine and intends for an increased American influence on a global level, but it works on a tactical level instead of an operational or strategic one. In other words, Trump has a tactical doctrine – but it would not be a surprise that Trump may translate his tactical wins into operational and strategic miracles just like he did in the 2016 US Presidential Elections.
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Published in Daily Times, September 17th 2017.