Structure, agency and transatlantic relations in the Trump era
Journal: Journal of European Integration
Year: 2018

No question encountered in the social sciences can be answered without appeal to some notion of the relative importance of structure versus agency. International relations (IR) appears to be entering an era of shifting global power as the world waits to see how Donald Trump’s ‘America first’ agenda plays out. Will the structure of the international system constrain Trump as a change agent? Or will the Trump administration’s agency lead to wrenching changes that threaten both the liberal internat