Keylor in Observador on Trump’s Foreign Policy
William Keylor, Professor of International Relations and History at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, was recently interviewed on United States President Donald Trump’s first year in office from a foreign policy perspective.
Keylor was interviewed for a January 20, 2018 article in the Portuguese e-newspaper Observador entitled “What Happens if Trump Continues to be Trump?”
From the translated text of the article:
Analyzing the available data in a cautious way, William Keylor acknowledges that, after all, times are not the same. “There is no way to compare North Korea with the Soviet Union,” he says. And while he concedes that there is danger in Pyongyang’s nuclear capability, Keylor is of the opinion that for Donald Trump, foreign policy and international relations are not a priority, but a tool. “He uses them to divert attention from other problems, such as colluding with the Russians,” he stresses.
Keylor says that “it does not look like Donald Trump has lost much time studying international relations and foreign policy” and also doubts that “he has any knowledge beyond the basics of the history of US diplomacy.” Still, it recognizes to it a own doctrine, that describes as “trumpiana”: to isolate the USA from the rest of the world.
Keylor served four consecutive terms as Chairman of the Department of History at Boston University (1988-2000) and has been Director of the International History Institute since 1999. At Boston University, he has received the Metcalf Award for Excellence in Teaching and the Methodist Scholar-Teacher Award.