'Walking Away or Managing from Afar? American Foreign Policy and Alliances Under Trump'

The Global Studies Seminar presents “Walking Away or Managing from Afar? American Foreign Policy and Alliances Under Trump” by Denison University’s Assistant Professor Andrew McWard.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) remains the world’s most important alliance. Now, faced with a revisionist Russia, NATO has regained its modus operandi and is arguably at its most influential point since the Cold War’s end. At the same time, NATO faces its first real threat from within: a skeptical United States led the Trump administration. This talk will evaluate current American foreign policy toward its allies and question the degree to which this disruption breaks precedent, suggesting that similar patterns of behavior can be found prior to World War 2. The talk then showcases new research on how the United States manages its NATO allies through the formation of defense cooperation agreements. The results highlight how the Trump administration leverages alternative international institutions to reduce its formal alliance commitments while maintaining their core defense promises.

McWard is an assistant professor of Politics and Public Affairs at Denison University. His research investigates the dynamics of nongovernmental organization (NGO) participation across and within intergovernmental organizations, with an emphasis on their role at the World Bank. He also studies the domestic politics of international cooperation, which includes separate projects on alliance formation and the duration of bilateral investment treaties. His work has appeared in the Journal of Conflict Resolution and the Review of International Political Economy. He received his Doctor of Philosophy in political science from the University of Wisconsin – Madison in 2023.