Former President Donald Trump’s “America First” foreign policy is appealing to many of his hardcore supporters. As an outsider running for president in 2016, Trump criticized numerous existing relations and deals America had with foreign nations. Trump complained that other nations are taking advantage of America and vowed to make America respected on the international stage once again. Trump repeatedly described how America is in decline and how he will “Make America Great Again”.

After becoming president, Trump fulfilled his promises and adopted a nationalist foreign policy while espousing isolationist and protectionist views. Trump prioritized bilateral relations over multilateral agreements. Under Trump, America withdrew from many of its previous multinational commitments, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade agreement between 12 countries across the Pacific Ocean; the Paris Climate Agreement; and the UN Human Rights Council. Trump was also skeptical of established international orders such as the UN and NATO. Trump’s nationalist foreign stance was clearly exemplified in his urging of NATO members to increase burden sharing, urging them to spend 2 percent of their gross domestic product on defense. When Germany failed to uphold the commitment, Trump made the decision to withdraw nearly 12,000 troops stationed in Germany in 2020. 

Economically, Trump raised tariffs on imports from many of America’s trading partners, including the European Union, Canada, and Mexico, in order to reduce the U.S. trade deficit. Trump especially raised huge tariffs on China, which eventually started the U.S.-China Trade War. Raising tariffs clearly espouses protectionist and nationalist sentiments.

Trump’s nationalist foreign policy is very influential within the GOP, and many Republicans seem to be in favor of continuing Trump’s “America First” agenda on the international stage. This “America First” foreign policy might seem patriotic and powerful, however in reality, it is an outdated ideology that threatens international stability. 

“America First” ideology’s distrust of multilateral agreements and preference for bilateralism and unilateralism reminds me a lot of the isolationism in the interwar period between WWI and WWII. During the interwar period, powerful nations such as the U.S., Britain, and France retreated to isolationism and rarely cooperated. The Great Depression that happened throughout the world drew no international response. Isolationism of the 1920s and 1930s is what contributed to the rise of Hitler and Mussolini in Germany and Italy respectively. Isolationism of the 1920s and 1930s also contributed to the rise of Japan as an imperial power in China and the Pacific Islands. Is this what America wants to retreat to? Of course the extent of isolationism in the interwar period and in today’s world is nowhere close. However, isolationism of any extent is an outdated ideology of the past that has no place in the 21st century, a world based on globalism and international cooperation. The world is becoming more and more interconnected as more and more common values emerge, including the values of democracy, freedom, free market economy, human rights, and climate change. Leading democratic nations of the world must come together multilaterally to combat threats that threaten those common values. 

Speaking of threats, China is a rising threat and one key focus of the “America First” ideology. Proponents of “America First” often argue that America must counter the growing influence of China. Now let me explain. I do agree with the idea that America needs to counter the growing influence of China because China’s authoritarian ideology presents a threat to international stability. If I learned anything from history, it is that undemocratic regimes cannot be trusted. Those regimes will act however they wish because they don't have the people to check their power. In democratic regimes, the regime is governed by the people, so the government can’t act out of bound. In authoritarian regimes however, the government is the only body in charge and there is nothing to stop it from acting out of bound. This is why I believe the world is much much safer with the U.S. at the top, as opposed to Russia or China. However, I completely disagree with the methods “America First” ideology uses to counter China. 

First of all, America can’t take on China by itself. When America is countering on China, why is it alienating its democratic allies at the same time? Under the Trump administration, America alienated many of its allies including the European Union, Japan, Canada, and Mexico (examples listed in the introduction paragraphs) by raising tariffs and demanding them to increase defense spending, etc. America can’t take on China alone, it needs its allies. Sure, taking on China alone seems cool and tough, but it is extremely stupid at the same time. Wait, is this what Trump means by making America respected on the international stage once again? Taking on China alone like a superhero? I hope not. The end justifies the means. The end goal is to stop the growing influence of China, not fight China in a cool and tough way. Let’s not worry about our fake pride and alienate our allies, instead, let's worry about actually getting the job done and strengthening our relationship with our allies. For this reason, I strongly support President Biden’s approach on China. President Biden has repeatedly emphasized the necessity to rebuild America’s relation with its allies, especially the European Union and Japan. Just recently at the G7 summit, Biden repeatedly called upon the 6 other nations in the group to counter the growing influence of China TOGETHER. On Monday, President Biden also said that the NATO alliance is “essential” and “critically important” for U.S. interests. This should be good news to every American. This shows President Biden realizes the best way to combat the threats to international stability presented by China and Russia is to unite American and its allies TOGETHER. Biden’s words on Monday also shows that Biden emphasizes international organizations such as NATO, which means he will likely unroll many of the foreign policy decisions made by the Trump administration, and put multilateralism over bilateralism as the priority once again.

Secondly, countering the growing influence of China does not necessarily mean starting a trade war with China. The ongoing China-U.S. Trade War is not clearly beneficial for America. There is no clear winner. For example, the tariffs raised on Chinese exports by Trump reduced real income in the U.S., as the price of foreign exports increased. I am not claiming that starting a trade war is a horrible approach. I am just suggesting perhaps starting a trade war with China is not the best approach, as the China-U.S. Trade War brought some negative impacts on America’s side as well. Hot-headed face-to-face conflict might be the “patriotic” and “tough” approach, but it is probably not a logical approach. Personally, I like what Biden is doing on the international stage as of now. Gathering up with our allies and rekindling relations with each of them is a more subtle, and less direct confrontation against China. As G7 nations have emphasized and implied during their summit, they are targeting China’s violation of human rights to counter China. China’s violation of human rights could be the glue that unites democratic nations around the world together to counter China. Another possible approach America could use to counter China is pressing for the origin of Covid-19. As we all know, there have been speculations that Covid-19 escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China. Pressing for the origin of Covid-19 could also possibly pit nations around the world against China.

Trump tried to position America as a king on the international stage, thus alienating many of America’s allies. We don’t have to establish ourselves as the king by provoking everyone with our strength. America’s place as the undisputed leader of the world is well recognized by nations around the world. We don’t need to deliberately show it. No nation on earth is close to challenging America’s economic and military strength. A wise king never starts a war, but he is always ready for it. America doesn’t have to provoke its relations with other nations. Doing so is merely creating instabilities.

The other day someone asked me “what is the single most critical threat the world faces today?”. Some of the popular answers include climate change, poverty, violation of human rights, cyber attacks, and etc. However, my answer was the rise of nationalism in corners around the world. Trump’s nationalist appeals inspired nationalism to rise in other nations. The crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 also spurred the rise of nationalism in nations around the world. In France, you have Marine le Pen and her far-right nationalist party who favors isolationism over globalism and international cooperation. Britain had already exited the European Union, which undermined the authority of international organizations. Far-right nationalist groups are also rising in European countries such as Germany and Italy. The rise of nationalism in nations around the world poses a significant threat because it signals that each nation is retreating away from multilateral international cooperations toward unilateral isolationism. I do believe that Biden realizes this, which is why Biden has emphasized again and again that America is committed to rebuilding relationships with its allies. The other good news is that the feeling is mutual for America’s allies. Emmanuel Macron, Boris Johnson, and other world leaders seem to be very supportive of President Biden’s commitment to international cooperation.

Proponents of “America First” foreign policy have also said America needs to put the interests of America before the interests of the world. They also say this is one of the reasons they strongly support “America First”. Well let me say this: in the 21st century, where America is the leader of the world, and where authoritarian regimes such as Russia and China threaten the triumph of democracy, the interests of America are the interests of the world, and vice versa. Those interests include preserving international stability, protecting democracies and freedom, rooting out authoritarian regimes and terrorism, and etc.