From Washington without love: congressional foreign policy making and US-Russian relations under president Trump

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn 2017, US Congress renewed the sanctions regime to punish Russia for its alleged cyberattacks during the 2016 elections and asserted its role in foreign policy making vis-à-vis President Donald Trump. To understand this case of Trump’s first significant foreign policy defeat, our analytical framework links two strands of the literature, the securitization concept and liberal International Relations theory. Previous studies underscored the ability of the executive branch to implement securitization discourses and practices. In this case, however, congressional entrepreneurs successfully securitized US-Russian relations despite presidential attempts to marginalize and de-securitize the issue. We trace the contested debates between the two branches of government to show how securitization processes by members of Congress forced the president to sign a new sanctions bill, which continued the policy towards Russia set by the Obama administration. Using qualitative content analysis, the paper highlights the ability of congressional actors to influence US foreign policy making despite high levels of polarization between the parties.