Economic strength can translate into geopolitical advantage.
President Donald Trump is approaching world politics with geoeconomic means for a geopolitical purpose. His reinvigoration of the Monroe Doctrine in the Western Hemisphere, military pivot to the Indo-Pacific, and rapprochement with Russia in Europe is the geographic part. His tariffs, encouragement of foreign investment in the United States, promotion of domestic energy production unhampered by climate regulations, and domestic cuts in government programs is the economic part. Back in 1990, the strategic thinker Edward Luttwak wrote that the world was moving from geopolitics to geoeconomics. But, as Luttwak certainly knew, economics has always been an important component of geopolitics. Trump the businessman understands that.
China understands it, too. Its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is geoeconomics on steroids, extending China’s economic influence throughout Europe, Africa, and the Western Hemisphere. The BRI uses economic power to advance China’s geopolitical interests. Trump is merely doing the same thing with his America First policies.
