Liberalism vs Realism: An Explanation of Trump's Policy

New President Donald Trump has done and said many things that have or have promised to close borders and put “America First”. Many Americans, specifically on the left, have taken this as an opportunity to label the man and his policies as discriminatory and racist. At a first glance, those accusations seem well founded. After all a certain group of people will be disenfranchised by the new policy decisions, but the truth is that there is something entirely different than prejudice at play here. All of the decisions made by the Trump Administration come down to one thing: theory. Donald Trump has a very specific theory of the world that guides his decisions. An understanding of this theory will provide an explanation that goes beyond allegations of racism.

Every president, in fact every person, has their own view of how the world operates. This view is called a “Core Theory”, and it dictates how the person sees the organization, or lack thereof, of the International System. There are many core theories but the main two, especially in the United States, are liberalism and realism. Liberalism is leaps and bounds more popular than the other in this country, and has been championed by people on both sides of the isle, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama being the most recent examples of it. Liberalism champions international organization and law. They favor the global good and are more prone to favor diplomatic solutions than war. The other theory, realism, has been falling off in American politics. Realism takes a state interest view of the world. They see the world as being chaos and they do not accept the power of international organization or law. A realist will only act in the interest of the state, and believes that security and safety are number one priority. Make no mistake, President Donald Trump is a pure realist.

It is extremely important to understand that Donald Trump is a firm subscriber to the theory of realism, because it explains what and why he is doing and going to do. He said in his inaugural address that his policies will strictly put “America First.” This was him proclaiming to the world that he was going to bring realism back to the forefront of American Foreign Policy. Knowing this, the actions are considerably less surprising. Of course he would move to tighten border security, because an open border and illegal immigration are liabilities to security. It makes sense that he would be against NAFTA, the TPP, and the UN, because alliances and agreements like those are seen, quite accurately, as entanglements that restrict how a country may respond to issues. For better or worse, Donald Trump is taking his world-view and using it to better the country.

This isn’t a supportive piece for all of Trumps policies, many of which are simplistic and ill-informed. It is merely an explanation for his actions, and an attempt to dispel unjust allegations. Despite their discriminatory nature, Donald Trump’s policies are not rooted in racism, they are rooted in realism. He isn’t tightening the border because he inherently hates Mexicans and Muslims; he is doing it because he sees a threat. Whether that threat is credible is to be debated, but in his mind it is present. This also isn’t an attempt to bash realism. There are many benefits to both core theories, and a balance between the two should be the goal. This is merely an attack on people that would rather simplify a grand political theory to racism. It is a call to action to become educated, so that detractors will have a more credible foundation to their argument. Labeling something strictly as racism, without any research or knowledge of an issue is closed minded, but taking the initiative to learn is admirable and credible. Perhaps learning about the pros and cons of each core theory would provide a more suitable defense than premature and emotional labeling. Maybe, it could stop the division in government, and lead to a more productive society.