The Risks of Trumpism

Donald Trump’s stunning victory over ex-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the 2016 US Presidential race has rocked America’s political life and pulled down the pillars of the international liberal order, thus announcing, some commentators claim, the long-predicted break-up of the Pax Americana.1 While political analysts are still struggling to imagine how the “Trump era”2 will pan out, the term “Trumpism” has made its way, not only to the forefront of media attention, but also to the core of the current public and academic debate on President Trump’s uniquely brash and impulsive style of politics, as well as his chaotic and reckless foreign policy strategy, or rather the lack of such.3 Although “Trumpism” has become a very fashionable concept, a closer look at its different interpretations will allow us to reveal the risks which lay behind it, risks which should not be ignored.