The Grand Strategy Sessions Michael Brenes: After the Age of Trump
Sep 24, 2025
Michael Brenes, Director of the Brady Johnson Program on Grand Strategy at Yale, discusses post-Trump internationalism and U.S. strategy in a changing world. He delves into the emergence of a multipolar landscape and the necessity of prioritizing transnational threats like climate change over dominance. Brenes argues for rebuilding domestic institutions to enhance foreign policy and the importance of multilateralism in addressing global challenges, while pushing back against the fallacy of winning against China in a competitive framework.
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A Multipolar World Is The New Reality
- The world is becoming multipolar as China, India, and Global South actors grow in economic and strategic importance.
- The United States must accommodate this multipolarity rather than attempt to maintain unipolar dominance.
Prioritize Transnational Threats First
- Prioritize transnational, existential threats like climate change, pandemics, inequality, and migration over zero-sum great‑power contests.
- Shift U.S. strategy from competition toward cooperation to better achieve durable outcomes on those shared problems.
Trump Left An Age-Long Mark Of Nationalism
- Donald Trump personifies a broader age of nationalism that will reshape U.S. foreign and domestic institutions.
- Treat the post‑Trump period like a post‑war moment and rebuild internationalist institutions and vision accordingly.