As much as we disagree with the legitimacy of Trump's positions, it is necessary to take into consideration two key issues with regard to the economic, social, and cultural crisis that white Americans with medium and low qualifications have faced in the last thirty to forty years. On the one hand, the loss of industrial jobs due to translocation and automation has eroded their purchasing power. On the other, as Fareed Zakaria has pointed out, values have been rapidly changing within American society, in which individuals have seen the country transformed from predominantly white and Protestant, to a more multi-ethnic society. Used to being the majority hegemonic group of society the white working class is feeling more and more like just one of the different interest groups.
Trump captured this group's interest and managed to articulate a proposal that highlighted the failures of the liberal paradigm, suggesting in some way a return to a past United States: a protectionist country with a Protestant identity, focused on its internal problems and with a foreign policy that prioritizes national interest above all. This message has attracted a population jaded by Washington's cosmopolitan elites and a political system that promises them little.
These internal processes of American politics have consequences in the field of International Relations. The current problems of the world have a global dimension and impact; therefore it is necessary to go beyond the Westphalian principles to solve them. The nationalist rhetoric of the future President seems to run counter to these needs. Worryingly as a result, the structure of multilateral cooperation will be called into question precisely when it is needed the most.
