A Populist Overthrow: from interdependence to independence in a world of globalization
Sarah Elizabeth Grigg
A rise in anti-globalization sentiments within highly advanced democracies has led to political movements embracing populism and nationalism. These movements often have leaders who challenge the legitimacy of the Liberal International Order (LIO) and its ability to bring about durable security. In certain foreign policy areas, the current United States President has used policy rhetoric and policy implementation to uncouple the country from recent trends toward ideal complex interdependence. Rather, the United States has now moved toward conformity with reconstructed aspects of offensive realism. Additionally, the legitimacy of power and security have been displaced from an institutional context of the presidency to the personality of the president. This paper examines the current President’s approach to three policy areas through a proposed theory of deconstructive realism: the environment, trade, and military activity. I chart how changes in these three issue areas use select assumptions of offensive realism and constructivism to subvert theories of institutional legitimacy and United States hegemony by replacing them with individual theories of unipolarity. Although global power has not been drastically redistributed by the rise of individualist, populist leaders, the United States does provide a case study for how individuals who harness populism and nationalism may affect key aspects of power, complex interdependence, and institutional order in major, democratic/pluralistic countries.
Sarah E. Grigg is a graduating political science major and Honors College member, with minors in international studies, pre-law, and philosophy. She is also a Pi Sigma Alpha Honor Society member whose internships include working in the Washington DC office of Rep. Ralph Norman, and the Greenville office of Senator Lindsey Graham. Sarah plans to pursue a graduate degree in international relations at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.
