Analysis & Opinions - Foreign Policy

Has Trump Become a Realist?

| Apr. 17, 2018

America finally has a president who grasps the basic logic of offshore balancing in the Middle East.

There's reason to think Donald Trump is becoming a closet realist or even — dare I say it? — an offshore balancer.

Admittedly, it's hard to credit him with having a coherent strategy of any kind, given the recurring contradictions in what he says and his penchant for reversing course without warning or explanation. But in the Middle East, at least, one could argue that Trump is trying — in his own ill-informed, impulsive, and erratic way — to return to the strategy of offshore balancing that the United States pursued more or less successfully in this region from 1945 to 1992....

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For more information on this publication: Belfer Communications Office
For Academic Citation:

Walt, Stephen M."Has Trump Become a Realist?" Foreign Policy, April 17, 2018.

The Author

Stephen Walt

Stephen M. Walt

  • Robert and Renée Belfer Professor of International Affairs; Faculty Chair, International Security Program
  • Member of the Board, Belfer Center
  • Faculty Affiliate, Future of Diplomacy Project
  • Faculty Affiliate, Middle East Initiative
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