My go-to Friedman for most foreign policy is George, not Tom. George Friedman writes for
Geopolitical Futures and his work is often cited by
RealClear World. Today he writes about the
evolution of various presidential foreign policy “doctrines.”
A doctrine is how a president is forced to operate foreign policy in the reality in which he finds himself. (snip) Doctrines ought to be seen not as strokes of genius or decisions made at the will of the president but as actions imposed on him and dictated by reality.
After an interesting peregrination through the doctrines of Truman, Nixon, and Obama, Friedman concludes about presidents in general and Trump in particular:
They enter office with policies that are merely the things they would like to do. Then reality hits and they discard the policies and begin acting tactically. Since the world is coherent, the actions in due course take on a coherence as well.
It is from this reality that a doctrine emerges. In Trump’s case, that doctrine involves reducing military risks, using economics as a lever and ignoring the opinions of foreign governments and the global public.
While I can’t tell you I am certain Friedman is correct about doctrines; I find his logic compelling.
