"What's striking about Trump is his shrugging indifference to overseas outcomes. You could call this regime-change nihilism; you can't call it imperialism. This is not an attempt to annex and govern new territories, to bring these countries under the United States flag by force, or to launch a years-long campaign to install a new form of government. This is a bomb-first-strategize-later mentality."
"For all the Bush-style recklessness that U.S. hegemony engendered, it also imposed limits. Past Presidents held back on attacking Iran for fear of damaging America's legitimacy or its interests, broadly construed. Trump, caring little for either, has entered a major conflict with astonishing blitheness; the White House press secretary explained that Trump acted on a 'feeling' that Iran would attack."
"His minimal commitments, rather than yielding a constrained foreign policy, have lowered the barrier to war. Trump was once a critic of George W. Bush's 2003 invasion of Iraq, and campaigned against further 'forever wars,' yet his approach to Iran demonstrates a fundamentally different calculation regarding military intervention and its consequences."
Trump's recent military operations have captured Venezuela's president and decimated Iran's leadership, including its Supreme Leader. Historian Daniel Immerwahr distinguishes these actions from imperialism, characterizing them instead as regime-change nihilism driven by indifference to overseas consequences. Unlike traditional imperialism seeking territorial annexation and long-term governance, Trump's approach prioritizes immediate military action without strategic planning. This represents a departure from previous administrations, including George W. Bush's, which exercised restraint regarding Iran to protect American legitimacy and interests. Trump's minimal commitment to traditional foreign-policy constraints has paradoxically lowered barriers to military conflict, enabling aggressive action based on intuition rather than comprehensive strategy.
#trump-foreign-policy #regime-change-nihilism #iran-military-action #american-imperialism #presidential-decision-making
Read at The New Yorker
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