Grand Strategy in Real Time: Assessing the Trump Administration

4 Credits.

Doing grand strategy is hard. So is making sense of grand strategy in real time. Harry S Truman was one of the most unpopular presidents in history when he left office; today, his presidency is often considered a grand strategic golden age. In this course, we'll try to make of what the Trump administration has tried to do in the world since taking office, where it has succeeded and failed, and what sort of legacy it might leave to its eventual successor. We'll discuss questions like: What is grand strategy? What are the ideas that animate Trump and his team? How should we assess the major events of this presidency--the raid on Caracas, the war(s) with Iran, relations with China, alliance management, and many others? Perhaps most important, we'll try to come up with analytical frameworks and tools that help us all think systematically and intelligently about events that are unfolding before our eyes.