Question Brief – 11/6/25

November 6th, 2025

Question: Should the United States prioritize alliances or domestic reform to maintain its global leadership?

Thought Process: The U.S., under the Trump administration is redeveloping its foreign policy, rooted in a methodology to promote the prioritization of American interests in both global and domestic affairs. As Trump employs tariff policy to shape economic deals, it jeopardizes our position in various markets and on the global stage, portraying us as a weak partner for both diplomacy and trade; we can’t sustain our domestic prosperity without international cooperation

1. Trade & Manufacturing
   1. The goal of Trump’s policy is to onshore US production, much of which we’ve seen take a more global shift in pursuit of lower labor costs and potential business gains. With tariffs, Trump wants to force companies to shift back to the US, increasing import costs.
   2. The contradiction lies in the shift it would cause in market access. Manufacturing US products abroad makes them available to larger markets at lower costs, widening the US’s economic footprint with not only American, but global consumers.
   3. This solidifies the US’s position in global trade, but altering manufacturing to a purely domestic focus can disadvantage US companies and their global reach.
2. Chinese Influence
   1. China’s been eyeing US partners for quite some time now, and they’ve made strides to develop stronger diplomatic and economic ties in the wake of waning US influence in areas like Latin America and Africa.
   2. Trump’s foreign policy further enables China, striving for a more isolated worldview; opening the window for China to gain ground with US partners and intensify negative sentiment about the US.
   3. This puts the US in a weaker global position, as China strikes deals with US partners and brings them closer to China and further from the US on various fronts.
3. Global Responsibilities
   1. Since the end of the Second World War, the US has taken on the role as one of few global watchdogs, serving as a global mediator and a host to discord between disagreeing parties.
   2. Although Trump exclaims his success in solving conflict, we still see the US involved in actions that counteract peace, such as growing aggression with Venezuela, with the potential for conflict.
   3. Actively, pursuing policies that inspire the climate for conflict in a place like Venezuela ultimately counteracts our role as a global mediator, and weakens our ability to be a trusted global leader, especially before a wary international community.