Paradigm Shift in the US Foreign Policy towards NATO during Trump Administration

Abstract

Committed to restore America to its former glory by advertising the slogan of “America First,” Trump’s leadership exhibited his antagonism to honour the international agreement and partnerships, among which NATO agreement holds the top priority. Former US President Donald Trump’s, labelling of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as obsolete did not only question the significance of NATO as an organisation, but also challenged the traditional values shared among the transatlantic partners as well as the liberal international order it promoted. The article aims to highlights the features of Trump’s personality which impacted the formulation of US foreign policy towards NATO using the theoretical tool of psychoanalysis (understanding Trump’s personality traits and analysing their impact on making of the US foreign policy during Trump’s administration). Although, Trump was not the first US President who accused NATO partners of their inadequacies. However, due to Trump’s aggressive style of conducting the US foreign policy, the NATO partners demonstrated a positive change by making up for their individual lacking in NATO alliance particularly with the issue of burden sharing.