There’s No Going Back
Thomas Wright on the post-Cold War order.
This article discusses how the foreign policies of Donald Trump and Joe Biden signal a shifting world order. Thomas Wright, who served on Biden's National Security Council, argues that the post-Cold War era is over and that the United States now faces two major revisionist autocratic rivals - Russia and China.
Wright's book highlights how Trump and Biden's policies reflect different approaches to this transformed world. While Biden attempted to integrate Russia and China into a cooperative liberal international order, Trump pursued a more aggressive, erratic foreign policy.
Despite some criticisms of Biden as a restorationist, Wright contends that he made necessary corrections to respond to a multipolar world and the COVID-19 pandemic. Biden restored alliances, expanded U.S. industrial capacity, and bolstered ties with allies, but also embraced strategic competition with China and Russia.
In contrast, Trump's second term was marked by a break from the post-Cold War world, with MAGA conservatives pushing for an increasingly aggressive U.S. role. Trump's administration aligned with far-right parties and alienated allies, while imposing arbitrary tariffs and engaging in multiple military conflicts.
Wright concludes that the post-Cold War order is no more, as both Biden and Trump moved away from the U.S. being the linchpin of world order. The emerging divergence between Republican and Democratic foreign policies further underscores this transformation.
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