On Tuesday, November 5, 2024, Americans voted to return former President Donald Trump to the White House. Building on the momentum of this historic event, Dean Joel Hellman brought the SFS community together for two events featuring faculty with differing policy views to discuss the implications of a second Trump presidency on the future of U.S. foreign policy. These conversations gathered SFS students and alumni for a critical analysis of what might be to come both at home and abroad. There was a significant response from the community, with attendees contributing weighty questions that sparked meaningful dialogue both in-person and online.
Looking Ahead for U.S. Foreign Policy
On Wednesday, November 6, Hellman moderated a panel featuring SFS Professors Matthew Kroenig, a former official in the Trump administration and vice president of the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security; Charles Kupchan, a former official in the Obama administration and senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations; and Renanah Joyce, an expert in security cooperation, military and economic statecraft and U.S. foreign policy. With only six hours’ notice, SFS undergraduate and graduate students filled the seats in the ICC Auditorium, ready to engage.
The conversation centered on the questions of what this extraordinary election means for the United States’ position in the world and what we should expect in the new administration’s foreign policy. The panelists discussed Trump’s “peace through strength” strategy, the opportunities and risks of transactionalism and how the U.S. might reevaluate the role of allies and partnerships. Students also raised important questions about Trump’s relationships with authoritarian leaders, his plan to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine and potential migration policies under the new administration.
