{"id":118351,"date":"2025-05-20T23:56:10","date_gmt":"2025-05-20T23:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/118351\/"},"modified":"2025-05-20T23:56:10","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T23:56:10","slug":"is-donald-trump-doing-the-world-a-favour-by-isolating-the-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/118351\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Donald Trump doing the world a favour by isolating the US?"},"content":{"rendered":"

United States President Donald Trump\u2019s tariffs against most of the world\u00a0tanked stock markets<\/a>,\u00a0disrupted the US bond market<\/a>\u00a0and destabilised the global economy.<\/p>\n

Trump has\u00a0economically<\/a>\u00a0and politically\u00a0threatened American allies<\/a>, shattering the unity of the Western world. But Trump\u2019s chaos may have inadvertently produced an opportunity to create a better world.<\/p>\n

Some Western commentators\u00a0argue that the US has been a benevolent superpower<\/a>. That may have been true for a\u00a0small group of mostly Western states that have benefited<\/a>\u00a0from American domination. But\u00a0much of the Global South was victimised<\/a>\u00a0by American military, economic and political interventions.<\/p>\n

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Losing dominance?<\/p>\n

The West could be in the midst of losing its dominant position in the global order. This is probably inevitable,\u00a0but it may not be the tragedy<\/a> some Western commentators assume it to be.<\/p>\n

In most of the world, there is\u00a0a desire for a more equitable world order<\/a>\u00a0that doesn\u2019t feature\u00a0the moral, racial and cultural double standards<\/a>\u00a0of the Western-dominated system. A world where American and Western power is limited and contained could not only end up being more peaceful but, over time, more prosperous.<\/p>\n

Without the cooperation of the allies alienated by Trump, it may be harder for the US to\u00a0initiate conflict around the world<\/a>\u00a0as\u00a0it often has since the end of the Cold War<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In a recent\u00a0Foreign Affairs\u00a0article, American political scientist Stacie Goddard argues the emerging multipolar, post-American world will be one in which great powers \u2014 primarily the US, Russia and China \u2014\u00a0will divide the globe into \u201cspheres of influence\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The US is\u00a0seeking to maintain disproportionate power in Asia<\/a>. Closer to home, neighbours of the US have reason to fear\u00a0American expansionism<\/a>.<\/p>\n

By contrast, even if it has imperialist ambitions,\u00a0Russia doesn\u2019t have the military might to dominate Europe<\/a>. It\u2019s a country of\u00a0144 million people<\/a>\u00a0with\u00a0one-sixth the GDP of the European Union<\/a>. Russia can cause trouble within countries with sizable Russian minorities, but its ability to project power is limited, as demonstrated by its grinding war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n

China\u2019s stance<\/p>\n

The Chinese have scored a win against Trump\u2019s tariffs with a 90-day tariff pause\u00a0that\u2019s being hailed as vindication of China\u2019s defiant negotiating strategy<\/a>. China\u00a0called Trump\u2019s bluff<\/a>\u00a0and won as\u00a0global stocks soared<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This has bolstered China\u2019s goal to have a sphere of influence. However, Chinese foreign policy is largely\u00a0non-interventionist<\/a>\u00a0and, compared to the US, remarkably restrained.<\/p>\n

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China may intimidate its rivals in the\u00a0South China Sea<\/a>,\u00a0Senkaku Islands<\/a>, and\u00a0Taiwan<\/a>, but it does not easily resort to military force.\u00a0China has not resorted to military force since its war with Vietnam in 1979<\/a>.<\/p>\n

China is committed<\/a>\u00a0to most of the guiding structures of the current international system and values a\u00a0stable and mutually beneficial global economic order<\/a>\u00a0that enables it to focus on and improve its domestic development.<\/p>\n

Its\u00a0export-oriented economic sectors<\/a>\u00a0need customers abroad. Unlike the West,\u00a0China has a vested interest<\/a> in helping the Global South develop and prosper in order to create those customers.<\/p>\n

Asian trade alliance?<\/p>\n

The Chinese\u00a0are using their resources<\/a>\u00a0to promote\u00a0economic and technological development in the Global South<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As China spreads its renewable energy technologies globally, some of the poorest countries may leapfrog carbon-based fuels and go directly to renewable energy to make development affordable and attainable, and to mitigate climate change.<\/p>\n

In response to Trump\u2019s tariffs, China, South Korea and Japan\u00a0have discussed a renewed free-trade arrangement<\/a>. President Xi Jinping\u00a0has toured Vietnam<\/a>,\u00a0Malaysia and Cambodia<\/a>\u00a0to encourage a common front against American actions.<\/p>\n

Asian states are wary of China, but they\u00a0remain committed to global trade<\/a>. The US may be retreating from globalisation, but the rest of the world is not, though\u00a0China\u2019s manufacturing dominance<\/a>\u00a0concerns many states<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Emerging international order<\/p>\n

New institutions may help to manage the evolving world order. The\u00a0BRICS countries<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates \u2014 have created the\u00a0New Development Bank (NDB)<\/a>. China has created the\u00a0Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The United Nations remains the favoured instrument of global diplomacy,\u00a0even as Western states<\/a>\u00a0have been accused of undermining its authority and efficacy.<\/p>\n

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The European Union will continue as a major global power in the emerging international order, but on a more even footing with the rest of the world.<\/p>\n

Europe is reconsidering<\/a>\u00a0its\u00a0trade war with China<\/a>. In the words of Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission: \u201cThe West as we knew it no longer exists.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Western states will undoubtedly continue to try to exercise disproportionate global influence. Canada has suggested that\u00a0\u201clike-minded states\u201d<\/a>\u00a0form an alliance to promote international trade and institutions that remain dominated by Western interests. This idea seems designed to continue marginalising the Global South in the international decision-making process.<\/p>\n

Most\u00a0Global South states<\/a>\u00a0are\u00a0not high-functioning liberal democracies<\/a>. Many struggle with the legacies of colonialism while managing an international system dominated by the West that keeps them subservient. Others have created governments that fit their particular circumstances, cultures and levels of development.<\/p>\n

But\u00a0many weaker countries generally share a commitment to international law<\/a>\u00a0that is seemingly stronger than the West. They need a stable, predictable, fairly applied set of global rules more than stronger nations. Ironically, the decline of the US may facilitate a much more genuine and legitimate rules-based international order.<\/p>\n

America\u2019s loosening grip<\/p>\n

Readjusting the world economy away from the US to a more diverse, evenly distributed economic model will be\u00a0difficult and disruptive<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, loosening the American grip on global power is an essential first step towards achieving a more just and balanced international order.<\/p>\n

For putting this process in motion, the world may owe Trump a measure of thanks.<\/p>\n

This is republished from The Conversation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\tIs it time for the world to move away from a model of US economic dominance?<\/p>\n

We want to hear from you. Write to us at\u00a0letters@crikey.com.au<\/a>\u00a0to be published in\u00a0Crikey.\u00a0Please include your full name. We reserve the right to edit for length and clarity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"United States President Donald Trump\u2019s tariffs against most of the world\u00a0tanked stock markets,\u00a0disrupted the US bond market\u00a0and destabilised…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":118352,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5311],"tags":[521,1395,32,1699,805,3055,30271,332,11368,1201,49,978,659],"class_list":{"0":"post-118351","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-asia","9":"tag-china","10":"tag-donald-trump","11":"tag-european-union","12":"tag-foreign-policy","13":"tag-global-economy","14":"tag-global-south","15":"tag-russia","16":"tag-the-conversation","17":"tag-trade","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-us","20":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114542869484621593","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118351"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118351\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/118352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}