Since 1945, has there been an antiwar U.S. president? Is it even possible to be an antiwar president when one has at his disposal history's most powerful war machine and is expected to maintain American primacy? President Donald Trump began his second term promising peace in the world, but after six months, the structures of empire and his unforced errors as a negotiator have thwarted progress. In this episode, historian Stephen Wertheim breaks down why the ideology of primacy impedes a more restrained U.S. foreign policy.

Recommended reading:

Trump is a Situational Man in a Structural Bind by Stephen Wertheim (New York Times)

Wertheim is a senior fellow in the American Statecraft Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He is the author of Tomorrow, the World: The Birth of U.S. Global Supremacy.