by Jim Sciutto
First published 2020
Jim Sciutto investigates how Donald Trump adopted and twisted Richard Nixon's "madman theory" of foreign relations. Nixon deliberately projected unpredictability to unsettle communist adversaries, making them believe he might be unstable enough to use nuclear weapons. Trump employed similar tactics, but Sciutto argues the results proved disastrous. The author documents Trump's praise for dictators like Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin while he attacked American institutions and abandoned longtime allies from NATO to the Kurds. Sciutto draws on extensive interviews with current and former administration officials to build his case. He shows how Trump's supporters believed he was executing sophisticated long-term strategy, but four years of evidence revealed only short-term thinking focused on headlines. The book demonstrates how this approach undermined American security interests, isolated traditional allies, and emboldened enemies. Sciutto offers readers a comprehensive analysis of Trump's foreign policy impact and its lasting consequences for global stability.
Genres: history, international-relations, american, political-science, politics, non-fiction, 21st-century, current-affairs
Vibes: suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: unreliable-narrator
Setting: NATO, United States
Period: 21st Century
314 pages · Kindle Edition · Harper