US foreign policy – possibilities of a Trump 2.0?

Although incumbents have a huge structural advantage in US presidential politics, Donald Trump looms large over the November 5 American election. What might this mean for US foreign policy? And in turn, what might that mean for New Zealand?

These are among questions United States Study Centre CEO and professor Dr Michael Green will canvas at our April 15 Catalyst Kōrero.

Each year, Victoria University’s Centre for Strategic Studies hosts a distinguished international expert on security issues as the Sir Howard Kippenberger Visiting Chair in Strategic Studies. Catalyst has had the pleasure of hosting four previous Kippenberger Chairs, each an excellent speaker.

Dr Green says the US’s European allies have “more reason to worry” than New Zealand and the surrounding region. “A Trump administration would be full of people who are Asia – firsters. I don’t agree with them, but they are all talking about pulling out of Ukraine to shift resources to Asia.”

Granted, he says, no previous US president has attacked the norms and institutions built by his predecessors the way Trump has.

But, Dr Green says, Trump’s focus during a second term would be on retribution against the US Department of Justice and other agencies that he thinks crossed him. His core staff would push for draconian immigration policies. Climate policies would grind to a halt at the federal level.

And his foreign policy? Come along to the Catalyst Kōrero to find out…

Monday, April 15, 6 to 7:30 pm at The Rees Hotel Queenstown’s conference room. Please bring cash for your koha, which will be given to Happiness House.

Bio: Dr Michael Green is professor and ceo at the University of Sydney-based United States Study Centre. In addition to holding academic posts at Georgetown University and the Edmund A Walsh School of Foreign Service, Dr Green was senior vice president for Asia at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies. He served on the National Security Council at the White House from 2001 through 2005 and has held positions at the Council on Foreign Relations, Johns Hopkins University, Institute for Defence Analyses, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

He serves on the boards of The Asia Foundation and Radio Free Asia, the advisory board of the Center for a New American Security and the Advisory Council of the Bush Institute, and as Senior Adviser to The Asia Group. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Aspen Strategy Group. He has authored numerous books and articles on Indo-Pacific security.