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US Global Engagement: Are We In, Out, Or In Limbo?

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Lecture
Jake Sullivan and Tom Wyler joined the Council to discuss the Trump administration's departing from core principles that have underpinned US foreign policy for decades.
Speakers
Jake Sullivan
Tom Wyler
Event Date

About this event

Where is American foreign policy heading? Jake Sullivan, former director of policy planning at the US Department of State, argues that the current administration is departing from core principles that have underpinned US foreign policy for decades—the importance of alliances, the role of values, and a broader commitment to leadership based on positive sum logic. Instead, the US has become increasingly transactional, withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement and TPP, and casting doubt over the Iran Nuclear Deal and NAFTA. This shift, Sullivan contends, is not just about Trump, but about a broader national debate on the future of American foreign policy—and the impact of US foreign policy decisions on the American middle class. What should we make of America First? And what is an alternative vision that is effectively matched to the needs and realities of the moment?

About the Speakers
Jake Sullivan
Former Director of Policy Planning, US Department of State
Jake Sullivan is a senior fellow in Carnegie’s Geoeconomics and Strategy Program and a Martin R. Flug visiting lecturer in law at Yale Law School. He served in the Obama administration as national security adviser to Vice President Joe Biden and director of policy planning at the US Department of State, as well as deputy chief of staff to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Tom Wyler
Senior Vice President for Global Strategy, PSP Capital
Tom Wyler is a board member at the Council, and the senior vice president for global strategy at PSP Capital.