America's word used to mean something. Then Trump became president.

How Trump is degrading America's foreign policy credibility

President Trump and Dwight Eisenhower.
(Image credit: Illustrated | AP Photo/Harvey Georges, Carlos Barria-Pool/Getty Images)

Last month, President Trump announced on Twitter that the U.S. would withdraw military support from Syria. The news took everyone — including leaders on Capitol Hill — by surprise. The Islamic State, the president said, had been defeated, and there was therefore no more reason to stay. In addition to whatever power vacuum might be left behind in Syria proper after the U.S. departs, Trump's unexpected withdrawal, and the disorganized manner in which it has been communicated by his administration, will likely have a more sinister side effect: It further degrades America's credibility. Our nation's word is becoming meaningless, and that's a dangerous prospect.

There are a number of recent international episodes that have chipped away at the United States' credibility and legitimacy as a negotiating partner. Certainly, the Syria withdrawal is one particularly dramatic example, especially considering how richly the administration bungled it. Two weeks after Trump's original announcement, National Security Adviser John Bolton seemed to contradict the president, indicating that U.S. troops would not leave Syria until ISIS is defeated and the protection of the U.S.-allied Kurds is ensured. Not five days later, the U.S. military announced that a deliberate withdrawal from Syria was underway.

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Rachel Whitlark

Rachel Whitlark is an Assistant Professor of International Affairs at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Her work focuses on international security and foreign-policy decision-making, specifically including nuclear proliferation, counter-proliferation, and military intervention. Her book explores the American and Israeli use of preventive military force as a counter-proliferation strategy against adversarial nuclear programs. Her work has appeared in International Studies Quarterly, Security Studies, The Washington Quarterly, The Monkey Cage, War on the Rocks, and the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, among other publications.