95bFM The state of American diplomacy through the lens of political realism
4 February, 2026
Interview by Toby West, adapted by Lois Gonzales
The University of Auckland’s Professor Chris Ogden says that political realism is about “pure power”, of which US President Donald Trump’s version of American diplomacy is an example.
A year into President Donald Trump’s second term, the United States has asserted its hard power and military strength in many regions of the world.
In recent months, the United States has kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, threatened to annex Greenland, and provoked Iran by increasing its military presence in the Middle East.
This current approach to American diplomacy can be understood through the theory of political realism, which mirrors President Trump’s ambition for global power.
Professor Chris Ogden, Programme Director of Global Studies at the University of Auckland, told 95bFM’s The Wire that the doctrine of political realism is “raw brute power”.
“Use that to get what you want, either militarily, economically, force your opponents into submission, and use your position as being very powerful against anybody else, in order to maintain control and overall dominance of the international system.”
Ogden says that the doctrine of political realism has always been present in American political history and foreign policy, reiterating that the United States has “intervened in so many countries in so many different ways with their schools and military bases”.
He says that “it's been a kind of velvet glove of multilateral institutions [and] diplomacy” and that “it's been hidden behind diplomatic language that Trump seems to be incapable or unwilling to use”.
“I think what's happened with Trump is he's just taken the glove off and said, here we are. This is us, you're going to listen, you're going to respond, and we're going to force you to do whatever we want.”
The current aggressive path of American foreign policy can be linked to the 1823 Monroe Doctrine, which President Trump has adapted into his version, the Donroe Doctrine.
Ogden explains that in the Monroe Doctrine, “there is a specific sphere of influence that should be under American control, which they would designate to be the Western Hemisphere, which means the Americas, North and South together.”
“It appears that some of the actions by the current US president are maybe replicating this. So, ousting the leader of Venezuela, for example, security treaties with a range of countries in South America, and maybe supporting right-wing populists across the region.”
Outside of foreign policy, President Trump’s decision to rename the Department of Defense to the Department of War is another example of how power and militancy are at the centre of his political approach, both locally and globally.
“Trump's rhetoric about leftists, liberals, Antifa, so on and so forth, are all ways of galvanizing his identity and the identity of his supporters to the detriment of others.
“I think it's very fruitful as a political strategy, but it's also very divisive.”
