Donald J. Trump, Great Again: How to Fix Our Crippled America (New York: Threshold Editions, 2016), 208
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IPRI Journal XVII, No.1 (Winter 2017): 146-158 Book Reviews Donald J. Trump, Great Again: How to Fix our Crippled America (New York: Threshold Editions, 2016), 208. Donald Trump became the 45th President of the United States in January 2017. During his election campaign, he was portrayed by the media as a most controversial personality based on his opinions and blunt approach towards foreign policy and domestic issues. However, by writing and publishing the book ‘Great Again: How to Fix Our Crippled America’ in the summer of 2016, Trump clarified his ideas and opinions on various issues ranging from his immigration policy to economic uplift of the US, foreign to healthcare policy, and from tax to education reforms. The book contains a preface, seventeen chapters and a conclusion. In the book, Trump promises that unlike his predecessors, he will focus on actions. He believes that American politicians often speak a great deal, but remain reluctant in taking actions. He dissociates himself from them and considers himself a successful businessman - one who will act timely and wisely for the betterment of the US. Trump writes that he learned the value of education from his father Fred and his father’s brother John G Trump. Fred Trump was a businessman who supported the education of his brother John after their father passed away. Due to his support, John earned PhD in Physics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and became the first American to invent the million- volt X-ray generator. In recognition of his services to science and technology, he was awarded the National Medal of Science by President Ronald Reagan (p. 32). Donald Trump considers the 70s and 80s as the great eras of US education, science and technology. He writes that his immediate predecessors did not focus on provision of quality education to all Americans, hence, the US is ranked 26th in school performance globally, which is an embarrassment according to him (p. 32). He stresses the need for reforming the education system in order to make it more practical and aligning it with 21st Century requirements. He also clarifies his policy on immigration and dedicates a whole chapter to this issue. He believes that illegal immigrants have caused serious damage to the national interests of America. According to him, the 11 million illegal immigrants in USA are a source of crimes such as rape, robberies and drug trafficking (p. 19). He writes that a 1000-km long wall along the border with Mexico is inevitable (p.20). For him, it is the duty of Mexicans to pay the cost of its construction and he offers some options for 146 Book Reviews gathering funds by increasing visa fees and cutting the annual aid to Mexico. Donald Trump’s foreign policy approach is to ‘operate from strength’ (p.24). He believes in the carrot and stick policy, that is, rewarding countries which protect American interests and ‘punishing’ those that are against them (p. 24). For this purpose, he believes that a strong economy is a prerequisite. Trump appears to be against military invasions and believes that the US should refrain from invading other countries. He criticises the Iraq invasion, which according to him not only destablised the Middle East but also severely damaged the American economy (p. 25); and also the US nuclear deal with Iran. He writes that the deal will not protect American interests and will be detrimental to the national security of Israel, which is the closest ally of America in the Middle East (p. 31). He is critical of Obama for declaring Climate Change the biggest security threat for the entire world. For Trump, Climate Change is not a priority issue as he considers the Islamic State (IS), Syrian crisis and America’s crippled economy, bigger national security threats to the US and the world (p.37). In fact, he does not agree with the environmentalists and politicians who promulgate the use of clean energy resources. He believes that America has immense indigenous oil resources (enough to last for the next 285 years [p.72]) which should be used for the development of its industries. Therefore, a policy shift in the White House over climate-related issues is certainly on the cards under the Trump administration. According to the New York Times dated March 28, 2017, President Trump nullified Obama’s policies on Climate Change and revived the coal industry in order to improve the American economy. Thus, his intentions as revealed in the book seem solid and it is likely that he will keep implementing them. Change in healthcare also seems inevitable after Trump’s entry into the Oval Office. He has strongly rejected Obama’s healthcare policy popularly known as ‘Obamacare’ and considers it unrealistic and a source of profit for the insurance lobby which has politicians in its pocket. In less than 100 days of assuming office, he signed an Executive Order to dismantle ‘Obamacare’. While he could not get Congress on board to repeal it, it just goes to show how he remains or at least wants to appear as a man of action, a man of his word. 147 Book Reviews Trump also proposed tax reforms in the book. He believes that by simplifying the tax code, the Government can widen the tax base as well as unburden the middle class. He proposed that single individuals earning less than USD 25,000 and married couples earning USD 50,000 annually should be exempt from the income tax net (p.79). Instead of multiple tax brackets, Trump proposes only four - 0, 10, 20 and 25 per cent. He claims that his tax reforms will provide relief to over 75 million US citizens (p.80). Trump concludes in his book that it is easy to make America ‘a great nation’ once again. However, this is only possible when politicians speak the truth and their actions are aligned with their words. The book negates various popularly held stereotypes about him. The book is an attempt to show that his promises during the election campaign were based on his in- depth study of various national and international issues. Unlike his image in the media, he seems more realistic and clear about national and international policy issues. The book shows a Trump who is a relatively straightforward politician and does not have a complicated personality. He wants to deal with complicated issues in a simple but organised manner. Whether one likes or approves of his methods and actions, in his first 100 days, as promised in the book and in his campaign to the American public, he has tried to undo the Paris Climate Deal, change America’s healthcare system and enforce stringent immigration laws, including building a wall along the border and putting travel restrictions on certain Muslim countries. He has faced and will continue to face various internal legal and structural challenges during the implementation on his plans, but he moving and shaking things up for America and Americans. Policymakers, diplomats, scholars and students interested in US politics must read this book to understand Trump’s personality, thinking and approaches to various national and global issues. It is highly likely that after reading it, a reader’s mind and opinion about Donald Trump may change from one where he is viewed as a blunt and frivolous man to a sober, knowledgeable and practical person who has strong conviction in his beliefs which help him to stand up against various odds. Reviewed by Khurram Abbas, Assistant Research Officer, Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI), Pakistan. 148 Book Reviews Harsh V. Pant, The US Pivot and Indian Foreign Policy: Asia’s Evolving Balance of Power (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016), 163. International politics is often characterised by hegemonic world orders that ensure peace and stability in international system. Post-Cold War, two decades have seen absolute American hegemony. With China’s economic and military rise, US primacy stands contested (p.2). Power transition theorists argue that transition of power leads to conflict and confrontation between a declining hegemon and the rising challenger state. The book attempts to highlight the current transition of power in Asia and India’s foreign policy choices. It underlines the theme that China’s rise and United States’ gradual decline has created a ‘systemic instability in Asian geo-politics’ (p.125). The book is authored by Harsh V. Pant, Professor of International Relations at Defence Studies Department and India Institute at Kings College, London, UK and his co-author Yogesh Joshi, a student of International Politics at the Center for International Politics, Organization and Disarmament (CIPOD), School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, India. They identify that apart from India, many other Asian states are also growing and call them ‘swing states’ as ‘the unknown nature of their intentions and their choices could tilt balance of power in one way or the other’ (p.4). According to the authors, given the structural imperative of strategic challenges, India has been following a ‘hedging strategy’ that has three pillars – ‘strategic partnership with the US, normalisation of relations with China and developing local balance of power mechanism by seeking close strategic cooperation with Asia’s middle powers’ (p.125). The authors also highlight India’s domestic political environment and previous as well as the current government’s strategies to deal with power transition phenomenon in the Asia-Pacific. The authors touch upon the subject of Indo-US ties in the ‘age of pivot.’ They briefly enumerate the Indo-US strategic partnership that was developed under George Bush’s presidency and identify that the power transition in Asia-Pacific has been the most compelling factor in enhancing this partnership.