New Paper on U.S. Foreign Policy under Trump’s Second Term
Dr. Ivo Ganchev has released a new 25,000-word paper titled “Trump’s New Foreign Policy: Strategic Repositioning in a Multipolar World?” This piece is available through Regional Policy Insights, a journal by the Centre for Regional Integration. It builds on a lecture delivered in February 2025 at Universidad Anáhuac in Mexico City and offers a unique in-depth analyses of U.S. foreign policy developments during the early months of Donald Trump’s second presidential term.
The paper situates recent foreign policy moves within a broader theoretical and structural context, arguing that the United States is undergoing a strategic recalibration in response to a shifting global order. It explores how the Trump administration is narrowing the U.S. strategic footprint—prioritizing the Western Hemisphere and Indo-Pacific—while deprioritizing Europe and large parts of the Global South.
The paper includes, among other topics, discussions of:
• The adaptation of U.S. foreign policy to a more multipolar international system;
• The growing importance of economic tools such as tariffs, reshoring, and selective decoupling from China;
• The divergent foreign policy models of the United States and China, with the latter increasingly appealing to the Global South through non-interventionist and stable international engagement strategies;
• Five competing U.S. grand strategy options and their implications;
• Four country-level case studies that demonstrate how Trump’s foreign policy operates in practice, with a special focus on Colombia, Panama, Greenland, and Canada.
Dr. Ivo Ganchev draws attention to the structural pressures influencing U.S. strategy, arguing that these forces would require recalibration under any administration, but are being addressed in distinctive ways by President Trump. “This is not just about presidential preference—it’s about structural repositioning,” Dr. Ganchev notes.
He also reflects on the origins of the paper, crediting the academic community in Mexico for shaping its development: “The lecture at Anáhuac University generated valuable feedback and gave me the opportunity to test some of these arguments in dialogue with students and colleagues. I am deeply grateful to Dr. Alina Gamboa Combs, her colleagues and students for the opportunity and support.”
📄 Read the full paper (free download) from the Centre for Regional Integration.
🎥 Watch the original lecture at Anáhuac University on YouTube.
To explore Dr. Ivo Ganchev’s other publications, view the read section of this website.
