Congressional hearings on the Biden administration’s controversial withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 have become a renewed focal point for political narratives about blame. But they also create an opportunity to consider counterfactual hypothetical scenarios that could expand our understanding of the U.S failure in Afghanistan.
The Trump Era
From the start of his U.S. presidential campaign and well into his time in office, Donald Trump has adopted an iconoclastic and increasingly confusing approach to U.S. foreign policy and international affairs. This series gathers together WPR’s coverage of the Trump era, and its implications for U.S. power and the world.
How durable are alliances? And how believable are alliance commitments? Stated differently, if the U.S. under Donald Trump or another president ends up being an unreliable ally when push comes to shove, would it be consistent with what we should have expected all along? It turns out these are surprisingly difficult questions to answer.
The Biden administration seems determined to ensure that its foreign policy achievements not be undone by any potential Republican successors. The administration might just pull off that goal, largely because the foundation of Biden’s foreign policy is, in turn, built on the foundation of his Republican predecessor: Donald Trump.