The Illusion of Making America Great Again - The shifting positionality of states within the global hierarchical structure

Since the inauguration of Donald J. Trump as the 45th president of the United States of America, US policy has shifted towards isolation and protectionism, challenging initial patterns of cooperation among the states within the global political order, aiming at improving the American stance in the world. Thus, this paper will analysis whether the ‘Trumpian’ foreign policy approach might indeed be able to enhance the American stance in the international realm, by arguing that the breaking with initial patterns of cooperation provokes resistance with the American leadership, leading to a weakening of the American positionality within the global hierarchical structure and thus, weakening the structural power-capabilities of the US. In order to do so, the author applies a qualitative discourse analysis to the examination of documents, representing the voices of European decision-makers. The author concludes by stating that the American behaviour is eventually challenging the positionality of the US globally, provoking a restructuring of the global political order