A Neo-Mercantilist Analysis of the Political Economy of U.S. Foreign Policy

Paper title:	*A Neo-Mercantilist Analysis of the Political Economy of U.S. Foreign Policy under Trump's Rule*
DOI:	https://doi.org/10.4316/CC.2021.01.013
Published in:	Issue 1, (Vol. 27) / 2021
Publishing date:	2021-07-31
Pages:	259-286
Author(s):	Selim Kurt
Abstract:	Liberal economic policies mostly embodied after Second World War constitute the basis of the U.S. political leadership. Relying on their economic superiority, U.S. governments have consistently implemented policies that facilitate the free movement of goods worldwide. However, the 2008 economic crisis in the United States, which then spread across the world, called into question the current liberal economic order. The leader who has probably questioned this system the most is Donald Trump, elected President of the United States in 2016. Trump blamed the decline of U.S. global power on the international political-economic system established by the U.S. itself, both during his election campaign and during his presidency. In this context, it is understood that Trump envisioned reviving the United States through neo-mercantilist policies inspired by the slogan “Make America Great Again.” Nevertheless, these policies have adversely affected the international system led by the United States, prompting Trump to take steps to exit what he sees as an obstacle. Furthermore, the policies implemented by the U.S. itself have been perceived negatively even by its allies, causing the U.S. to become isolated in foreign policy.
Keywords:	United States, Neo-mercantilism, Foreign Policy, Donald Trump, Political Economy.

References:	1. Abay Emre Gürkan, DTÖ Çeyrek Asırlık Tarihinin En Büyük Krizlerinden Birine Hazır-lanıyor, “Anadolu Ajansı”, in https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/ekonomi/dto-ceyrek-asirlik-tarihinin-en-buyuk-krizlerinden-birine-hazirlaniyor/1689257. 2. Ahmed Salman, Bick Alexander, Trump’s National Security Strategy: A New Brand of Mercantilism?, “Carnegie Endowment for International Peace”, in https://carnegieendowment.org/2017/08/17/trump-s-national-security-strategy-new-brand-of-mercantilism-pub-72816. 3. Antweiler Werner, U.S. Neomercantilism, in https://wernerantweiler.ca/blog.php?item =2018-06-25. 4. Balaam David N., Dillman Bradford, Uluslararası Ekonomi Politiğe Giriş [Introduction to International Political Economy], Nasuh Uslu (Trans.), Ankara, Adres Yayınları, 2015. 5. Belt and Road, The Belt and Road Initiative - A Road Map to The Future, in https:// beltandroad.hktdc.com/en/belt-and-road-basics. 6. Brewer Anthony, Cantillon and Mercantilism, in “History of Political Economy”, 1988, Vol. 20, No. 3, pp. 447-460. 7. Britannica, General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, in https://www.britannica.com/ topic/General-Agreement-on-Tariffs-and-Trade. 8. Clift Jeremy, Beyond the Washington Consensus, in https://www.imf.org/external/ pubs/ft/fandd/2003/09/pdf/clift.pdf. 9. Cohen Zachary, et al., Trump administration begins formal withdrawal from World Health Organization, in https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/07/politics/us-withdrawing-world-health-organization/index.html. 10. Cohn Theodore H., Global Political Economy, Sixth Edition, Boston, Longman, 2012. 11. Congressional Research Service, United Nations Issues: U.S. Funding of UN Peace-keeping, in https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/IF10597.pdf. 12. Cox Robert W., Gramsci, Hegemonya ve Uluslararası İlişkiler: Metot Üzerine Bir De-ğerlendirme, Esra Diri (Ed.), in “Uluslararası İlişkilerde Anahtar Metinler” (551-567), İstanbul, Uluslararası İlişkiler Kütüphanesi, 2013. 13. Cozzolino Adriano, Trumpism as Nationalist Neoliberalism: A Critical Enquiry into Donald Trump’s Political Economy, in “Interdisciplinary Political Studies”, 2018, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 47-73. 14. Crowley Michael, Allies and Former U.S. Officials Fear Trump Could Seek NATO Exit in a Second Term, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/03/us/politics/trump-nato-withdraw.html. 15. Cwik Paul F., The New Neo‐Mercantilism: Currency Manipulation as a Form of Protec-tionism, in “Economic Affairs”, 2011, Vol. 31, No. 3, pp. 7-11. 16. De Melo Jaime, Nicita Alessandro (Eds.), Non-Tariff Measures Scope and Overview, in “Non-Tariff Measures: Economic Assessment and Policy Options for Development” (1-13), https://unctad.org/en/PublicationsLibrary/ditctab2018d3_en.pdf. 17. European Parliament, US-Russia relations: Reaching the point of no return?, in www. europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2018/628230/EPRS_BRI(2018)628230_EN.pdf. 18. Falkner Robert, International Political Economy, London, University of London, 2011. 19. Frieden Jeffry A., Lake David A., International Political Economy: Perspectives on Global Power and Wealth, Fourth Edition, London, Routledge, 2003. 20. Gearan Anne, Kim Seung Min, Trump condemns globalism, touts nationalistic view of foreign affairs at UN, in https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-touts-nationalistic-view-of-foreign-affairs-at-un/2019/09/24/e4a8486a-ded2-11e9-8fd3-d943b4ed57e0_story.html. 21. Gee Tim, The World System is Not Neo-Liberal: The Emergence of Structural Mercan-tilism, in “Critique”, 2009, Vol. 37, No. 2, pp. 253-259. 22. Gilpin Robert, Global Political Economy, New Jersey, Princeton University Press, 2001. 23. Gilpin Robert, Uluslararası İlişkilerin Ekonomi Politiği [The Political Economy of International Relations], Fourth Edition, Murat Duran et al (trans.), Ankara, Kripto Basın Yayın Dağıtım Ltd. Şti., 2014. 24. Hettne Björn, Neo-Mercantilism: The Pursuit of Regionness, in “Cooperation and Conflict”, 1993, Vol. 28, No. 3, pp. 211-232. 25. Heywood Andrew, Küresel Siyaset [Global Politics], Nasuh Uslu, Haluk Özdemir (Trans.), Ankara, Adres Yayınları, 2013. 26. International Trade Administration, North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), in https://www.trade.gov/north-american-free-trade-agreement-nafta. 27. Irvin Douglas A., Free Trade Under Fire, New Jersey, Princeton University Press, 2009. 28. Johnson Keith, U.S. Effort to Depart WTO Gathers Momentum, in https://foreign policy.com/2020/05/27/world-trade-organization-united-states-departure-china/. 29. Kocka Jürgen, Kapitalizmin Tarihi [Capitalism A Short History], Evrim Tevfik Güney (Trans.), İstanbul, Say Yayınları, 2018. 30. Koh Harold Hongju, Gostin Lawrence O., How to Keep the United States in the WHO, in www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/world/2020-06-05/how-keep-united-states-who. 31. Krasner Stephen D., State Power and the Structure of International Trade, in “World Politics”, 1976, Vol. 28, No. 3, pp. 317-347. 32. Krieg Gregory, How did Trump win? Here are 24 theories, in https://edition.cnn. com/2016/11/10/politics/why-donald-trump-won/index.html. 33. Morrison Charles E., Tradition, Trump, and the Future of US Participation in Mul-tilateralism, Christian Echle and et al. (Eds.), “Multilateralism in a Changing World Order” (27-39), Singapore, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, 2018. 34. Murray Robert W., Whither Multilateralism? The Growing Importance of Regional In-ternational Societies in an Emerging Multipolar Era, in Christian Echle et al. (Eds.), Mul-tilateralism in a Changing World Order, Singapore, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, 2018, p. 13-27. 35. New Zealand Foreign Affairs and Trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership, in https://www. tpp.mfat.govt.nz/. 36. Nichols Philip M., The Neomercantilist Fallacy and the Contextual Reality of the Fo-reign Corrupt Practices Act, in “Harvard Journal on Legislation”, 2016, Vol. 53, pp. 203-246. 37. O’Hara Phillip Anthony, Encyclopedia of Political Economy. Volume 1: A–K, London, Routledge, 2004. 38. Office of the United States Trade Representative, European Union, in https://ustr.gov /countries-regions/europe-middle-east/europe/european-union 39. Okeke Donald Chiuba, Cilliers Juanee, Schoeman Carel, Neomercantilism as Deve-lopment Ideology: A Conceptual Approach to Rethink The Space Economy in Africa, in “African Studies”, 2018, Vol. 77, No. 1, pp. 23-52. 40. Packard Clark, Trump’s Real Trade War Is Being Waged on the WTO, in https:// foreignpolicy.com/2020/01/09/trumps-real-trade-war-is-being-waged-on-the-wto/. 41. Payne Anthony, The Genealogy of New Political Economy, in Anthony Payne (Ed.), Key Debates in New Political Economy, London, Routledge, 2006, p. 1-11. 42. Rogers Katie, Mandavilli Apoorva, Trump Administration Signals Formal Withdraw-al from W.H.O., in https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/07/us/politics/coronavirus-trump-who.html. 43. Shendruk Amanda, Hillard Laura, Roy Diana, Funding the United Nations: What Im-pact Do U.S. Contributions Have on UN Agencies and Programs?, in https://www.cfr.org/article/funding-united-nations-what-impact-do-us-contributions-have-un-agencies-and-programs. 44. Szrom Charles, The Mercantilism of Donald Trump, in https://www.realclearworld. com/articles/2016/09/23/the_mercantilism_of_donald_trump_112059.html. 45. U.S. Current Account Deficit Widened in 2019, in https://www.bea.gov/news/blog/ 2020-03-19/us-current-account-deficit-widened-2019 46. Vaggi Gianni, Groenewegen Peter, A Concise History of Economic Thought: From Mer-cantilism to Monetarism, New York, Palgrave Macmillan, 2003. 47. Wallerstein Immanuel, The Modern World System II. Mercantilism and the Consoli-dation of the European World-Economy, 1600–1750, New York, Academic Press, Inc., 1980. 48. White House, National Security Strategy, in https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/ sites/default/files/rss_viewer/national_security_strategy.pdf. 49. White House, Remarks by President Trump to the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, in https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-74th-session-united-nations-general-assembly/. 50. WHO, WHO Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Dashboard, in https://covid19.who.int/ table. 51. World Trade Organization, The WTO, in https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/ thewto_e.htm. 52. Williamson John, The Strange History of the Washington Consensus, in “Journal of Post Keynesian Economics”, 2005, Vol. 27, No. 2, pp. 195-206. 53. Yu Fu-Lai Tony, Neo-Mercantilist Policy and China’s Rise as a Global Power, in “Con-temporary Chinese Political Economy and Strategic Relations”, 2017, Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 1043-1073.