This third instalment of Volume 34 of the Cambridge Review of International Affairs constitutes a special issue on ‘Trump and unpredictability in international relations’, which we are proud to present here in partnership with the special issue’s guest editors, Dr Adam B. Lerner and Dr Michelle Bentley.
We leave it to the guest editors’ excellent introduction to contextualize the special issue and summarise its many important contributions. We wish only to note, in addition, that this issue epitomizes the sort of politically relevant, theoretically sensitive, and historically informed research that our journal seeks to promote.
While Donald Trump is no longer US president, this in no way diminishes the relevance of this special issue. While most of the articles contained herein were written, reviewed, and published (online) before the November 2020 US presidential election, the turbulent aftermath of Trump’s loss adds urgency to scholarly analyses of his leadership style and temperament, and their effects on world politics. Even if Trump does not himself run again, his influence on the Republican Party will remain pronounced, including among politicians seeking to inherit the mantle of ‘disruptor’ of America’s role in the world. The extent to which unpredictability might feature in a new right-wing foreign policy orthodoxy—and, indeed, the extent to which this orthodoxy is itself predictable—are key topics that the authors in this issue place in stark relief.
Aside from its political relevance, this special issue marries impressive theoretical sensitivity—for example, exploring the concept of unpredictability from a philosophy of science perspective— with a historical orientation—for example, in drawing upon debates over Nixon’s so-called ‘Madman Theory’, a potential precursor to Trump’s doctrine. Like our last issue—34(2), charting new directions in the study of uneven and combined development—the melding of theory and history here occurs both within the articles and at the level of the issue as a whole, which provides multiple, overlapping, perspectives to problematize and contextualize Trump’s supposed unpredictability. Thus, the issue will reward readers by honing their analytical tools and broadening their sense of context.
We thank the contributors to the issue, and especially the guest editors Adam and Michelle, for choosing CRIA as the platform to present their research. And as always, we especially thank our peer reviewers for their service. We continue to welcome proposals for special issues (directed to the Editors in Chief), as well as book reviews (directed to the Features Editor). Details and submission guidelines may be found at https://www.cria.polis.cam.ac.uk.
Editors-in-Chief
Cambridge Review of International Affairs