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# Fuel to the Fire 

##### How Trump Made America’s Broken Foreign Policy Even Worse (and How We Can Recover) 

Since Trump took office, it has become clear that “America First” was more of a campaign slogan than a coherent vision of American grand strategy. As president, Trump has steered a course that has maintained some of the worst aspects of previous foreign policy—namely, the pursuit of primacy and frequent military inter­vention—while managing to make a new set of mistakes all his own.

October 2019 

By [Christopher A. Preble](https://www.cato.org/people/christopher-preble), John Glaser, and [A. Trevor Thrall](https://www.cato.org/people/trevor-thrall) 

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As a presidential candidate, Donald Trump broke not only from the Republican Party but also from the bipartisan consensus on U.S. foreign policy. Calling the Iraq War a terrible mistake and lamenting America’s nation-building expedi­tions, Trump evinced little interest in maintaining the traditional form of American leadership of the liberal international order. Instead, Trump’s “America First” vision called for a reassertion of American nationalism on the economic front as well as in foreign affairs.

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Since Trump took office, it has become clear that “America First” was more of a campaign slogan than a coherent vision of American grand strategy. As president, Trump has steered a course that has maintained some of the worst aspects of previous foreign policy—namely, the pursuit of primacy and frequent military inter­vention—while managing to make a new set of mistakes all his own.

While President Trump continues to muddle along, now is the time to consider what should come after. In *Fuel to the Fire*, the authors characterize and explain Trump’s foreign policy doctrine and the effect that he likely will have on U.S. foreign policy during his tenure. Further­more, they provide policy recommendations that are centered on restraint—a radical departure from America’s expansive global military role in the world but a return to the historical American focus on trade and diplomacy.

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*“Reading this book won’t cheer you up, but it will make you smarter.* Fuel to the Fire *is a comprehensive and dispassionate account of Donald Trump’s failing foreign policy, and it points the way toward a more effective grand strategy.”*

— Stephen M. Walt, Robert and Renée Belfer Professor of International Affairs at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government

*“At a time when American foreign policy is badly in need of a reboot, this provocative, powerfully argued call to move past a failing insistence on militarized primacy is a welcome addition to the debate.”*

— Ben Rhodes, deputy national security advisor to President Barack Obama, 2009–2017