Roseanne McManus, Associate Professor of Political Science, recently published an article in Foreign Affairs titled “The Limits of Madman Theory: How Trump’s Unpredictability Could Hurt His Foreign Policy.” In the article, McManus discusses her ongoing research on the so-called Madman Theory of international relations: the suggestion that world leaders might benefit from a perception of unpredictability.
McManus writes, in part: “Trump should be careful when it comes to madman theory, because scholarship suggests that it is very difficult to wield successfully. In fact, it is rare that a reputation for madness actually pays off internationally.”
McManus’s research on this topic has been widely cited during the presidential transition. Aside from this article, she has been featured on NPR, in Bloomberg, and in Foreign Policy. She has even been interviewed on the topic by journalists from around the world, including in Poland and Turkey.
