The President who had promised an end of “forever wars” and of unnecessary entanglements has greenlit strikes against Iran. Since February 28, Iran is under US and Israeli attack; Ayatollah Khamenei was among the first of the Irani leadership to be killed. President Trump has called on the Iranian people to “take back their country” and has promised the operation to be concluded within five weeks. While few observers mourn the possible demise of the Islamic theocracy, many fear that the US and Israel might have unleashed a regional conflict with a more than doubtful ending. How do the strikes fit into the security strategy as it had been outlined by the Trump Administration? How does Trump’s war put “America First” and fit into “MAGA”? And can we make out a Trump doctrine after all? In this episode we are dissecting these questions with St.Gallen’s security policy expert and Professor of International Relations, James W. Davis.

Professor James Davis has been a fixture for HSG students in International Affairs since 2005 when he left Munich to take on St.Gallen’s Chair in International Relations. Originally from Michigan, he first studied at Michigan State University and then went on to obtain both his Master’s and his PhD from Columbia. He has held positions at various leading research institutions, for instance at Harvard’s John M. Olin Institute for Strategic Studies, and he has received numerous awards and accolades for his work, including the 2011 Credit Suisse Award for Best Teaching, Awarded by the Student Union of the University of St.Gallen. Prof. Davis bridges research and practice, as he has most recently demonstrated by co-initiating the European Nuclear Study Group (ENSG) which he is co-chairing alongside Dr. Tobias Bunde (Munich Security Conference & Hertie School), and Dr. Claudia Major (Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, Berlin).

Disputes over territory seem to be the new norm in transatlantic relations: after fears over the world’s largest island Greenland rattled the entirety of Europe, the fate of a small archipelago in the Indian Ocean has worsened US-UK relations. In 2024, the United Kingdom reached an agreement with Mauritius, transferring sovereignty over the Chagos archipelago to the latter. Earlier, President Trump applauded the deal – but he has since backtracked and demands that the UK keep sovereignty over the group of islands. What’s the trouble with Chagos? And why has its status been disputed for decades? We are breaking down the background of this conflict with Professor Thomas Burri who has been following the story of Chagos for several years.

Professor Thomas Burri is the co-editor of The International Court of Justice and Decolonisation: New Directions from the Chagos Advisory Opinion and has started a series of papers on “Phenomenological Law,” focusing first on the case of Chagos. Since 2011, he has been teaching International and European Law at the University of St.Gallen where he received the Impact Award for launching «The First University of St.Gallen Grand Challenge – The EU A.I. Act 2023.» Professor Burri received his education at University of Zurich (Dr. iur.), in Bruges (College of Europe, LLM), Basel and Paris (Lic. iur., University of Basel).

Recommendations:

1. Philippe Sands, The Last Colony
2. David Vine, Island of Shame

It's a landmark case: in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump (2026), the Supreme Court declared Donald J. Trump's tariff regime unconstitutional. Specifically, the Court holds that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) does not authorize the President to impose tariffs. Expectedly, the President denounced the decision and the three conservative Justices who went with the 6:3 majority, including Chief Justice Roberts. We are trying to make sense of it all with Prof. Christoph Frei.

Prof. emeritus Christoph Frei teaches history of political thought, international governance, and world politics at the University of St.Gallen. An award-winning researcher and lecturer, he spent formative research years in the United States and has maintained strong ties to the States throughout his career.

Further reading:

1. Ilya Shapiro, Supreme Disorder
2. Claudia F. Brühwiler, "Politiker in Roben? Der Supreme Court und der Vorwurf der Politisierung", Alexandria (full text) content / Richterzeitung (pay wall): Politiker in Roben?
3. Oren Cass and the future of American conservatism | HSG Focus 25/01 (includes link to the podcast episode with Chris Griswold) und The Federalist Papers