Van Jackson identifies some of the things that we can reliably predict about Trump’s foreign policy:
Will Trump preside over a growing defense budget that officially eclipses more than $1 trillion? Will US grand strategy remain primacist? Will economic statecraft consist primarily of tariffs and sanctions? Will the US military end up conducting operations of some kind inside Mexico’s borders? Will the US continue providing a blank check to Israel?
The answer to all these questions is assuredly “Yes.”
It remains to be seen what changes Trump will to the foreign policy he is inheriting, but judging from his first term it is safe to assume he will preserve the worst of Biden’s policies while reneging on any remaining useful diplomatic agreements. Trump is also likely to introduce some of his own ill-conceived policies. Launching attacks in Mexico will be one of these. James Bosworth warned last week that “the signs are that the incoming Trump administration is preparing for an actual war against the drug cartels in 2025 that goes well beyond the “War on Drugs” of the past.”
Continue reading “A Cartel War Is Incredibly Stupid, But Trump Will Do It Anyway”