Overview

US grand strategy and the Madman Theory: From Nixon to Trump explores how U.S. presidents have used calculated unpredictability as a tool of foreign policy and the dangers that come with it. Richard Nixon pioneered the tactic, projecting a volatile persona to pressure adversaries like North Vietnam and the Soviet Union into concessions, hoping they'd fear he was unhinged enough to go nuclear. Decades later, Donald Trump revived the approach in his own chaotic, improvisational style, leveraging erratic behaviour to keep both allies and enemies off balance. While Nixon's version was tightly controlled and behind the scenes, Trump's was a public spectacle, blurring strategy with impulsiveness. This book examines how both leaders weaponised perception to gain leverage, and what that reveals about power, psychology, and leadership on the world stage. A gripping, timely look at how madness-real or performed-can be a feature, not a bug, in American diplomacy.

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9781526197450

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Reviews

“A provocative, non-partisan examination of the development and enactment of the madman theory as US grand strategy that places contemporary policy debates within a comparative historical framework.” -John Bew, Author of Citizen Clem, Realpolitik: A History, Prime Minister’s Foreign Policy Advisor (2020-2025) 'A perceptive, intelligent, and engaging history of the intellectual roots and uses of threats of extreme military force by the Eisenhower, Nixon, and Trump administrations' Tom Wells, author of The Kissinger Tapes: Inside His Secretly Recorded Phone Conversations and Wild Man: The Life and Times of Daniel Ellsberg 'Essential reading for anyone trying to make sense of the last sixty years of American power—and where it’s headed next.' Amie Parnes, Senior Correspondent at The Hill, co-author of Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House and Lucky: How Joe Biden Barely Won the White House “Donald Trump has blown up the traditional world order, detonating everything we thought we knew about US foreign policy. James Boys explains how and why that has happened by drawing on Madman Theory and exploring whether there can ever be a method to apparent diplomatic madness. Fascinating, essential reading to understand grand strategy in a world upended by Trump. Boys is an authoritative, riveting guide."" Brian Klaas, author of The Despot’s Apprentice: Donald Trump’s Attack on Democracy, Corruptible: Who Gets Power and How it Changes Us, and Fluke: Chance, Chaos and Why Everything We Do Matters. -- .

'A provocative, non-partisan examination of the development and enactment of the madman theory as US grand strategy that places contemporary policy debates within a comparative historical framework.' John Bew, Author of Citizen Clem, Realpolitik: A History, Prime Minister’s Foreign Policy Advisor (2020-2025) 'A provocative and insightful examination of the Madman Theory as it developed under Richard Nixon and helps drive policy in the second Trump administration today.' Fredrik Logevall, author of Embers of War: The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America's Vietnam and JFK: Coming of Age in the American Century, 1917-1956 'A perceptive, intelligent, and engaging history of the intellectual roots and uses of threats of extreme military force by the Eisenhower, Nixon, and Trump administrations' Tom Wells, author of The Kissinger Tapes: Inside His Secretly Recorded Phone Conversations and Wild Man: The Life and Times of Daniel Ellsberg 'Essential reading for anyone trying to make sense of the last sixty years of American power—and where it’s headed next.' Amie Parnes, Senior Correspondent at The Hill, co-author of Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House and Lucky: How Joe Biden Barely Won the White House 'Donald Trump has blown up the traditional world order, detonating everything we thought we knew about US foreign policy. James Boys explains how and why that has happened by drawing on Madman Theory and exploring whether there can ever be a method to apparent diplomatic madness. Fascinating, essential reading to understand grand strategy in a world upended by Trump. Boys is an authoritative, riveting guide.' Brian Klaas, author of The Despot’s Apprentice: Donald Trump’s Attack on Democracy, Corruptible: Who Gets Power and How it Changes Us, and Fluke: Chance, Chaos and Why Everything We Do Matters. -- .

Author Information

James D. Boys is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre on U.S. Politics at University College, London

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