Politics, power and the self-preserving MNE: theoretical reflections on “Rules or no rules: international business in the time of Trump”

Purpose This viewpoint paper reflects on Burmester et al.’s (2026) “Rules or No Rules: International Business in the Time of Trump” published in this journal. Inspired by the arguments in that article, the authors suggest that political power and multinational enterprises (MNEs’) capacity to exercise such power to shape their political environments are often neglected in calls for a more political approach to international business (IB). The authors therefore take the first step in presenting a political theory of the MNE through their “Self-Preservation Perspective of the MNE,” rooted in international relations theory, which puts political power at the center of the analysis, as power is an inseparable element of politics. Design/methodology/approach The new “Self-Preservation Perspective of the MNE” is based on insights from established international relations theory, applied to the political behavior of MNEs. It adopts the central role of relative power between the MNE and other actors, and the concept of “self-preservation” behavior in the face of perceived threats in an anarchical geopolitical environment. This study identifies four types of self-preservation behaviors and illustrates them through four examples, respectively: Pharmacia’s lobbying activity in the USA; Tesla’s clash with Swedish labor unions; ExxonMobil’s threat of withdrawal from the European Union (EU) market; and Uber’s reentry into the Danish market to comply with regulation. Findings The self-preservation perspective of the MNE suggests that anti-societal outcomes, such as environmental degradation and anti-trust violations, are not anomalies but expressions of the MNE’s intrinsic drive for survival in an uncertain geopolitical environment. By foregrounding insecurity, survival and relative power as central drivers of MNE behavior, it also suggests that MNE entrepreneurial behavior and innovation may be outweighed by self-preserving behavior aimed at defending existing business models and strategic advantages. The authors identify four fundamental self-preservation behaviors: influencing behavior, avoiding behavior, exiting behavior and adapting behavior. Taken together, the perspective is a response to recent calls for a more political theory of the MNE. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study takes the first step in presenting a political theory of the MNE through the “Self-Preservation Perspective of the MNE,” rooted in international relations theory, which puts political power at the center of the analysis. The perspective enables IB researchers to analyze and explain why MNEs seek power, how they exert it and how such power is counterbalanced by other actors. It also provides a new perspective on “anti-societal” MNE behaviors, such as environmental degradation and anti-trust violations, as fundamentally driven by “self-preservation.”