Charles A. Kupchan
President-Elect Donald Trump will have to steer a fractured America through a fractured world. These dual challenges go hand in hand. If the United States is to succeed abroad it must first get its own house in order. The steady and effective brand of U.S. statecraft that much of the world hopes Washington can provide will emerge only if the nation can get beyond its ongoing division and dysfunction. Good policy requires good politics; effective governance at home is the foundation of purposeful statecraft abroad. Washington should aim that statecraft at ending the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, safeguarding the global trading system, and adapting international order to the ongoing diffusion of power.
Strength Starts at Home
Trump’s top priority should be economic and political renewal at home. An American comeback begins with rebuilding the nation’s middle class, which will in turn ameliorate the polarization and division weakening the country. Indeed, Republicans and Democrats alike have pledged to get working Americans back up on their feet, resorting to tariffs and industrial policy to revive the nation’s manufacturing base. During the campaign, Trump promised to make the country a “manufacturing powerhouse.”
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