Trump’s protectionism and future of global order: how useful are appeals to history?

By Eric Helleiner

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Year
2026

Overview

Helleiner analyses how historical analogies have been deployed to make sense of Donald Trump’s approaches to economic protectionism and global order more generally. Highlighting the inaccuracies of many of these claims, he stresses the need for healthy scepticism, noting that historical narratives are often invoked for self-serving political purposes.

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