American Grand Strategy from Obama to Trump

This book maintains that the theory of imperialism should incorporate the concept of an operational code of political elites to account for agencies' actions. This concept would explain the strategic continuity and tactical change in US grand strategy from Obama to Trump. While both presidents pursued a strategy of off-shore balancing, their competing worldviews led to tangible differences in the way they sought to restore American power after Bush and to contain the rise of China. This book offers an important contribution after the departure of Bush concluded the 21st century debate on imperialism, at a time when an increasingly post-American world order has undermined the end of the state thesis. Indeed, over the last twelve years US grand strategy has emphasized inter-state competition rather than the annihilation of rogue regimes. These events require renewed efforts for the theory of imperialism to contribute to Globalisation Theory at this crucial historical junction.

Contributes to a range of fields including IR, International Political Economy (IPE), and Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA) Approaches key foreign policy analysis topics from a classical Marxist theoretical perspective Combines analytic themes (imperialism, foreign policy-making, and elite ideologies) with an empirical case study

Autorentext

Zeno Leoni is a Teaching Fellow in "Challenges to the International Order" at the Defence Studies Department of King's College London, UK, and the Defence Academy of the UK. He is affiliated with the Lau China Institute at King's College London and currently writes on the new Cold War between the US and China.

Inhalt
Chapter 1. Introduction.- Chapter 2. A Marxist theory of International Relations.- Chapter 3. US grand strategy and its contradictions.- Chapter 4. A post-American geopolitical world order: uneven development and the shifting balance of power.- Chapter 5. Obama's grand strategy: between off-shore balancing and the 'pivot to Asia'.- Chapter 6. Trump's grand strategy: The Obama Doctrine through the lenses of America First.- Chapter 7. Conclusion.