In his address to Congress this week, Trump has just vowed to reshape his country in a “common sense revolution”. A spectre is haunting his plans, though: it is a powerful beast, which has been variously named (“deep state”, “military-industrial complex” etc). “Defense sector” should suffice for us. This multi-billion force, however, is far from being the new US President’s only problem, for his “bullying” style makes him an enemy-making machine. It is worth delving into that.

When it comes to foreign policy Trump seems to have little consideration for the notion of “soft power” – his undoing of USAID (challenged by the Supreme Court) and his focus on “peace through strength” clearly show this. In the culmination of a political strip-tease, the American empire, now unveiled, is showing its true face, and that face is brute force. The King is truly naked, it seems – naked and angry.

However, rather than being the “realist” some expected the Republican to be, his administration seems to toy with a kind of “reverse idealism”: the way Trump and Vance approach Europe and Britain is ideological, as seen in terms of attacking the lack of free speech there. The whole idea of “Make Europe Great Again” illustrates this, which is contradictory enough with the very notion of a neo-Monroeist and “self-isolating” presidency.

It is unclear, though, how much of that rhetoric is actually aimed at scoring points with their political base domestically. Overall, the incumbent President’s foreign policy seems confusing and lacking a clear outline, even though some long-term goals are discernible, such as undoing Biden’s “dual-containment” policy by means of a partial “reverse Kissinger” approach.

Partially bringing back the Monroe Doctrine; gaining further access to minerals and energy sources; empowering the Executive, and so on. However, even taking into consideration the “madman theory” approach, the short-term goals in turn are too pragmatic,........

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