Leiden University Student Repository

Mazzocchi, Estelle (2020)

THE CHANGING ROLE OF THE US IN THE LIBERAL INTERNATIONAL ORDER: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF OBAMA AND TRUMP’S ENGAGEMENT IN THE TRANS- PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP AND PARIS AGREEMENT

Bachelor thesis | International Studies (BA)

Obama and Trump have always been regarded as being diametrically opposed in their conception of domestic and foreign politics. The election of Trump has been considered as a rupture with the Obama’s presidency until the point of being accused of having as main goal of erasing all the political work performed by Obama in his eight-year mandate. Specifically, from the moment in which Trump took power, an international concern grew with regard to the future of the liberal international order, which might be put in serious danger as a result of the application of the America First rhetoric. By placing US interests at the center of his foreign policy, Trump has engaged in the LIO with a very different behaviour than Obama. In this thesis I will explore these different behaviors by analyzing how the two presidents have participated in international agreements, by conducting a comparative analysis of two specific treaties: The Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Paris Agreement. This...Show moreObama and Trump have always been regarded as being diametrically opposed in their conception of domestic and foreign politics. The election of Trump has been considered as a rupture with the Obama’s presidency until the point of being accused of having as main goal of erasing all the political work performed by Obama in his eight-year mandate. Specifically, from the moment in which Trump took power, an international concern grew with regard to the future of the liberal international order, which might be put in serious danger as a result of the application of the America First rhetoric. By placing US interests at the center of his foreign policy, Trump has engaged in the LIO with a very different behaviour than Obama. In this thesis I will explore these different behaviors by analyzing how the two presidents have participated in international agreements, by conducting a comparative analysis of two specific treaties: The Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Paris Agreement. This comparison will also shed a light on the impacts that these two opposed approaches may have on the order.Show less

Liberal International Order

USA

International Agreements

Foreign Policy

Author

Mazzocchi, Estelle

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation

North America

Supervisors

Regilme, Salvador Santino

ECTS Credits

15

Language

en