The Madman Theory from Nixon to Trump

Is Donald Trump mad? Or is he a practitioner of the Madman Theory — and therefore not mad at all?

James D. Boys, author of ⁠⁠U.S. Grand Strategy and the Madman Theory: From Nixon to Trump⁠⁠, argues that the Madman Theory is not madness, but the performance of madness: a tactic by which a sane leader feigns irrationality to make an adversary believe there is even a one percent chance of overwhelming, disproportionate force.

In this new Conflicted Conversation, Boys explains:

What the Madman Theory means

Donald Trump, unpredictability and Trump Derangement Syndrome

Nuclear strategy, Eisenhower, and Cold War brinkmanship

Barry Goldwater, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the politics of nuclear fear

Richard Nixon, Henry Kissinger and the Madman Theory in Vietnam

Trump’s use of Madman tactics against North Korea, Iran, NATO and trade partners

Whether Trump’s second-term grand strategy is chaos, coercion or calculated geopolitical pressure

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Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

This episode was produced and edited by Thomas Small.

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