Key Words: Withdrawal characterizes Trump view of U.S. role in world: Council on Foreign Relations head

From the Monroe era to the postwar years under Truman to the latter Bush presidency, the broad framework of a presidential administration’s view of the U.S. role in the world has often been able, if only for rhetorical reasons, to be encapsulated by a handy descriptor.

Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, believes he’s hit on a term that captures the Trump weltanschaaung:

‘The Withdrawal Doctrine.’

Richard Haass

On Twitter, Haass went on to list the pacts and commitments that Donald Trump has sought to jettison:

Haass, who served in the administrations of George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush before helming the Council on Foreign Relations, which publishes the highly regarded journal Foreign Affairs, was believed to have been under consideration during the transition for a post in the Trump administration.

Trump in a Friday address said the U.S. would decertify Tehran’s compliance with the multinational agreement limiting the Iranian nuclear program but did not go so far as to withdraw the U.S. from the pact. He said he could do the latter at any time.