Is Donald Trump’s Influence on World Affairs Really Worse than Earlier American Policies?

Abstract

Leading American political commentators are appalled by President Donald J. Trump’s actions signifying that he is withdrawing the U.S. from acting as “the leader of the free world”. The U.S. showed statesmanship as a victor in World War II, worked with many nations to create NATO, and led in opposing the spread of communism. However, a list of arbitrary U.S. interventions in foreign affairs and other developments from the early 1950s leads to painful but realistic reservations about the quality of U.S. international leadership since that time.

Keywords: Trump, global leadership, foreign interventions, global climate change, financial crash

JEL Classification: F1, F13, F51, F53, F52, F53, F55, F68, K1, K42, K29