THE ROLE OF PERSONAL PRESTIGE IN DONALD TRUMP’S FOREIGN POLICY DECISION-MAKING: THE CASE OF VENEZUELA

Сажетак

The paper analyses the US intervention in Venezuela in 2026 from the perspective of prestige policy, seeking to show that security, economic, and value-based explanations are insufficient to understand the decision of the Donald Trump administration. In this context, the arguments about the fight against “narco-terrorism”, the spread of democracy, the economic interest in Venezuelan oil, and the strengthening of the Monroe Doctrine are critically examined, concluding that they cannot fully explain the scope, manner, and symbolic dimension of the armed action. The paper offers an interpretation of the intervention as a demonstration of US military power in order to affirm Donald Trump’s personal political prestige. Relying on classical realism and Hans Morgenthau’s concept of prestige, the paper shows that the need for recognition of one’s own value remains an important motivational factor for leaders who perceive international politics as an opportunity to prove personal superiority. The intervention in Venezuela is interpreted as an action aimed, more than at any real American strategic interest, at confirming Trump’s historic role through a demonstration of force and determination.

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