NORAD in an Age of Trump’s Jacksonianism

Abstract

The electoral successes of populist politics in America, culminating in the victorious presidential campaign of Donald Trump, have engendered uncertainty regarding US defence policy, and with it the security and stability of liberal internationalism. The Trump administration marks the ascendancy of the venerable Jacksonian tradition in US foreign and defence policy, which values robust military power, eschews international engagement for the sake of higher ideals or maintaining international order, and seeks to avoid the sort of international obligations which would constrain the country’s ability to act unilaterally. While NORAD may benefit from the Trump administration’s Jacksonian emphasis on core US interests and policy prioritization of increasing US military capabilities, the diminished global prospects for multilateralism are not in line with Canadian priorities and may aggravate the main security threats of concern to NORAD.