Trump’s Worldview Isn’t as Unpredictable as You Think

What will the world, and America’s place in it, look like after another four years of President Donald Trump? Since Election Day, I’ve been asked that question by foreign diplomats, US officials, corporate executives and seemingly everyone else. The range of outcomes is enormous, because a volatile US president is about to collide with a volatile globe.

Trump’s volatility is real, even if his “unpredictability” is overstated. He racked up head-snapping policy reversals in his first term, while threatening to tear up treaties that had been cornerstones of US policy for decades. What’s different, this time, is that Trump is inheriting a plethora of hot wars, cold wars and potential wars. He can reasonably claim to be entering an uglier, more dangerous landscape than any president in decades.