Playing the "Madman"
On the Media | Apr 21, 2017
Despite months of isolationist rhetoric, President Trump launched a missile attack on a Syrian air force base. He also shelved promises to label China a currency manipulator and reversed his position on NATO seemingly overnight.
As it turns out, this approach may be aiding his foreign policy... at least for now. Fred Kaplan, “War Stories” columnist for Slate (and Brooke’s husband), says that Trump’s unpredictability bears some resemblance to the “Madman Theory,” a strategy employed by Richard Nixon during the Vietnam War.
