Abstract
This article examines President Trump’s foreign policy behaviour as a product of a leadership style that is entrenched in a plutocratic worldview. We apply elements of Hermann’s leadership traits framework to Trump’s engagement with NATO, and characterize him as a low-conceptual complexity president, enabled by limited search for information and advice, a confrontational and insensitive approach to his environment, and proclivity to violate international norms and rules. We show that Trump’s low-conceptual complexity is underpinned by a plutocratic worldview which is transactional and money-first. We argue that while this signals change between Trump and his predecessors, this plutocratic approach has been one of the most significant sources of consistency within Trump’s administration.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 71-85 |
Number of pages | 15 |
Journal | Global Affairs |
Volume | 6 |
Issue number | 1 |
Early online date | 5 Mar 2020 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 5 Mar 2020 |
Keywords
- foreign policy analysis
- leadership styles
- change & continuity
- US foreign policy
- NATO
- Trump