Example Image
Civitas Outlook
Topic
Politics
Published on
Mar 28, 2025
Contributors
Joel Kotkin
Photo by Kyle Glenn on Unsplash

Ignore the Bluster – Donald Trump Is Not an Imperialist

Contributors
Joel Kotkin
Joel Kotkin
Senior Research Fellow
Joel Kotkin
Summary
MAGA foreign policy is driven by a haunting sense of America’s vulnerability and decline.
Summary
MAGA foreign policy is driven by a haunting sense of America’s vulnerability and decline.
Listen to this article

US president Donald Trump’s MAGA brand of foreign policy has been treated with contempt and consternation by much of the world. He has incited the ire of neoliberal theorists like Francis Fukuyama, as well as many European intellectuals, who rarely have much positive to say about America anyway. To them, Trump epitomises a destructive American arrogance and imperial delusions.

Whatever he may think of himself, Donald Trump is no Augustan figure, no colossus ready to conquer the known world. He is a phenomenon borne of concern about American decline, ranging from failing education levels and massive debt to frayed national coherence and fading industrial, even military, supremacy. He is driven not by imperial ambitions (despite his absurd claims about acquiring Greenland and Canada), but rather in response to the consequences of recent imperial overreach.

The old US foreign policy, argues secretary of state Marco Rubio, is ‘obsolete’. Attempts to reshape the world through unrestrained globalisation and foreign interventions have not only failed, he says, but are now also a ‘weapon being used against us’.

Continue reading at Spiked

10:13
1x
10:13
More articles

John Wayne and the American Redemption

Pursuit of Happiness
Dec 24, 2025

Reiner, Stand By Me

Pursuit of Happiness
Dec 23, 2025
View all

Join the newsletter

Receive new publications, news, and updates from the Civitas Institute.

Sign up
More on

Politics

Liberal Democracy Reexamined: Leo Strauss on Alexis de Tocqueville

This article explores Leo Strauss’s thoughts on Alexis de Tocqueville in his 1954 “Natural Right” course transcript.

Raúl Rodríguez
Politics
Feb 25, 2025
Long Distance Migration as a Two-Step Sorting Process: The Resettlement of Californians in Texas

Here we press the question of whether the well-documented stream of migrants relocating from California to Texas has been sufficient to alter the political complexion of the destination state.

James Gimpel, Daron Shaw
Politics
Feb 6, 2025
Who's That Knocking? A Study of the Strategic Choices Facing Large-Scale Grassroots Canvassing Efforts

Although there is a consensus that personalized forms of campaign outreach are more likely to be effective at either mobilizing or even persuading voters, there remains uncertainty about how campaigns should implement get-out-the-vote (GOTV) programs, especially at a truly expansive scale.

Grant Ferguson, James Gimpel, Mark Owens, Daron Shaw
Politics
Dec 13, 2024
National Poll from Civitas Institute: Trump Victory Driven by Voters Who Reject Status Quo

The poll asked 1,200 Americans an array of questions about how things are going in America.

Daron Shaw
Politics
Dec 11, 2024

The Three Whiskey Happy Hour

Steven Hayward brings you the Power Line Blog's perspective on the week's big headlines.

View all
** items
California job cuts will hurt Gavin Newsom’s White House run

California Governor Gavin Newsom loves to describe his state as “an economic powerhouse”. Yet he’s far more reluctant to acknowledge its dramatically worsening employment picture.

Politics
Dec 10, 2025
An anti-woke counter-revolution is sweeping through the media

From Hollywood to the newsroom, the hegemony of the ‘progressives’ is finally faltering.

Politics
Dec 1, 2025
California’s billionaire tax could bring down Gavin Newsom

Gavin Newsom’s run for the White House is going from bad to worse.

Politics
Nov 17, 2025
Mayors to Cities: Drop Dead

Far-left policies on policing, education, and taxation are pushing Los Angeles, Chicago, and others to the brink.

Politics
Nov 15, 2025

Kotkin: Non-Aligned Nations Navigating a Multipolar World

Politics
Aug 19, 2025
1:05

Wall Street Journal: Donald Trump Takes On the Conservative Judiciary

Politics
Jun 2, 2025
1:05

Trump’s Drug Pricing Plan: Consequences for Innovation and Patient Access

Politics
May 13, 2025
1:05

John Yoo: The DOJ Is Being ‘Tricky’ but They May Be Right

Politics
Mar 18, 2025
1:05

John Yoo: How Will Trump Try to ‘Redirect’ the Justice Department Toward ‘Public Order and Safety’?

Politics
Mar 14, 2025
1:05
No items found.
No items found.
What Adam Smith’s Justice Teaches Us About Stealing Benefits

There is a constant tension in liberal systems between the shared trust necessary for the system's survival and the use of public entitlements paid for at public expense.

Michael Munger
Politics
Dec 23, 2025
Indiana, D.C., and Purchased Submission

The clear lesson for all Americans is this: Allowing federal transfers into your state also means giving DC a say in state and local issues.

Thomas Savidge
Politics
Dec 23, 2025
The Family Policy Symposium

How should we approach the problems of family formation and fertility decline in America?

Politics
Dec 18, 2025
How States Can Help Families

When it comes to daily life, states can – and should – experiment with different approaches to centering families’ needs in public policy.

Patrick T. Brown
Politics
Dec 18, 2025
No items found.