Politics

This Map of Donald Trump's Foreign Policy Ideas Should Scare You

April 12th 2016

Donald Trump claims to be great at many things, including, but not limited to: Making money, cutting deals, remembering things, and masterfully commanding the delicate skills required of successful foreign policy makers.

But at least on the last point, the Republican front-runner's comments and variant positions on global events over the years might present a different picture, as a comical visualization by the Huffington Post exposes:

Trump mapHuffington Post - huffingtonpost.com

Huffington Post reporters Dana Liebelson and Jessica Schulberg combed through the business mogul's statements and pronouncements about various countries to decorate a map of the world. The result is a mish-mash of Trump's signature policy proposals — a large wall on the U.S.-Mexico border — and his confounding running narratives — that President Barack Obama's purported birthplace might not hold up to scrutiny.

The map might not present the most accurate picture of Trump's actual foreign policy platform, but it comes as his expertise on the issue faces increased scrutiny as a party nomination becomes evermore a reality.

donald-trumpFlickr/Max Goldberg - flic.kr

The candidate's proposals, many of which have remained vague or shrouded in secrecy, have raised eyebrows in policy circles for taking a brash approach to intricate global issues.

Following an extensive interview about foreign policy in March, The New York Times reported that Trump "approached almost every current international conflict through the prism of negotiation, even when he was imprecise about the strategic goals he sought."

(If you're interested, read more about Trump's foreign policy advisors and team here.)

His proposals have also, by turns, garnered some cautious second glances from some within the foreign policy community. Rosa Brooks, a professor of international law, national security, and other subjects at Georgetown University Law Center, wrote in Foreign Policy that Trump articulates a "coherent, realist" strategy.

"Trump’s vision of the world — and his conception of statecraft — isn’t one I much like, but it reflects a fairly coherent theory of international relations. It’s realist, transactional, and Machiavellian — and it demands a serious, thoughtful, and nondefensive response."

Either way you see it, one thing is clear about Trump's ideas about international relations and his candidacy for president more broadly: They can no longer be laughed off.

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