Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
This webinar was co-sponsored by Boston Review.
In their recent Boston Review essay, Quincy Institute non-resident fellows Aslı Ü. Bâli and Aziz Rana argue that the emerging “Trump doctrine” replaces multilateralism and international law with open-ended coercion, economic punishment, and the normalization of dominance over weaker states. They trace this framework back to the Biden Administration’s policy on Gaza, and how it treats sovereignty as conditional and wields sanctions, blockades, and force not as last resorts but as primary tools of policy.
Today, this doctrine reverberates from the Middle East to the Caribbean. As Israel was permitted to impose a siege on Gaza and prevent food and medicine from reaching civilians, critics warn that similar coercive logics are resurfacing elsewhere. In Cuba, the Trump administration is deepening shortages of food, fuel, and medicine through a naval blockade of the island, prompting accusations of collective punishment. What came permissible in Gaza is now being employed elsewhere, eroding decades of international norms designed to protect civilians.
We held a timely conversation with Bâli and Rana on what it means when great powers prioritize economic strangulation over diplomacy. How do such strategies reshape global norms—and who pays the human cost? And what will it ultimately mean for America if we march toward a world without these norms? Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute, spoke with the authors.
*Download the full webinar transcript here*:
quincyinst-2.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/01170721/The-Trump-Doctrine_-A-Conversation-with-Asli-U.-Bali-and-Aziz-Rana.docx.pdf
This webinar was co-sponsored by Boston Review.
In their recent Boston Review essay, Quincy Institute non-resident fellows Aslı Ü. Bâli and Aziz Rana argue that the emerging “Trump doctrine” replaces multilateralism and international law with open-ended coercion, economic punishment, and the normalization of dominance over weaker states. They trace this framework back to the Biden Administration’s policy on Gaza, and how it treats sovereignty as conditional and wields sanctions, blockades, and force not as last resorts but as primary tools of policy.
Today, this doctrine reverberates from the Middle East to the Caribbean. As Israel was permitted to impose a siege on Gaza and prevent food and medicine from reaching civilians, critics warn that similar coercive logics are resurfacing elsewhere. In Cuba, the Trump administration is deepening shortages of food, fuel, and medicine through a naval blockade of the island, prompting accusations of collective punishment. What came permissible in Gaza is now being employed elsewhere, eroding decades of international norms designed to protect civilians.
We held a timely conversation with Bâli and Rana on what it means when great powers prioritize economic strangulation over diplomacy. How do such strategies reshape global norms—and who pays the human cost? And what will it ultimately mean for America if we march toward a world without these norms? Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute, spoke with the authors.
*Download the full webinar transcript here*:
quincyinst-2.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/01170721/The-Trump-Doctrine_-A-Conversation-with-Asli-U.-Bali-and-Aziz-Rana.docx.pdf
