U.S. Foreign Policy in Historical Perspective

On the eve of the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, this panel examinedsthe past, present, and potential future of U.S. approaches to world order. What light can history and political science shed on the Trump administration’s “America First” foreign policy, including its underlying motivations and determinants? What elements of continuity and discontinuity are most noteworthy in the country’s current global engagement? What impulses, forces, and variables are most likely to shape the nation’s global role in the coming decades?  Stewart Patrick, senior fellow and director of the Global Order and Institutions Program at the Carnegie Endowment, moderates this discussion with Kori Schake, senior fellow and director of Foreign Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute; Charles Kupchan, professor of International Affairs in the School of Foreign Service and Government Department at Georgetown University and senior sellow at the Council on Foreign Relations; and David Engerman, the Leitner Professor of History and Global Affairs at Yale University. This panel is part of the Opportunities of Change in World Order conference, hosted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the British Academy in Washington, DC, June 1 – 2, 2026. It is a product of the multiyear “Global (Dis)Order” initiative launched by the Carnegie Endowment and the British Academy, which seeks to shed light on the dynamics of global turbulence and identify effective policy responses that will promote a more secure, prosperous, equitable, resilient, and sustainable future for humanity. Learn more about the initiative here: https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/p... Like and subscribe to our channel: https://bit.ly/38sljlH The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace generates strategic ideas and independent analysis, supports diplomacy, and trains the next generation of international scholar-practitioners to help countries and institutions take on the most difficult global problems and advance peace. Visit our website: https://carnegieendowment.org/ Follow us on X: https://x.com/CarnegieEndow Follow us on Instagram:   / carnegieendow