Trump's return challenges global order, shakes U.S. alliances
"The Pax America will officially end on Jan. 20, 2025, when the U.S. inaugurates Donald J. Trump as its 47th president. The country and world will be very different because of it. He doesn’t believe in trade or open markets, instead he favours imposing crushing tariffs on U.S. imports — up to levels last seen in the 1930s — even if all economists believe it will bring economic disaster," says former U.S. ambassador to NATO Ivo Daalder.
The expert believes that the return of Trump to power is an event with serious repercussions for the U.S. and the entire world. "In his first term, Trump made clear he doesn’t buy into Washington’s global leadership role as his predecessors have done. He doesn’t believe in leading — he believes in winning," Ivo Daalder wrote in an opinion piece for Politico.
According to him, since 1945, the world as we know it has relied mainly on the idea of U.S. leadership, Pax Americana, which was meant to deter enemies and reassure friends, build prosperity through opening markets and encouraging the free flow of goods, capital, people, and ideas, and uphold the defense of freedom, democracy, and the rule of law.
Global leadership led to the creation of NATO and other alliances, helped rebuild post-war Europe and Asia, and opened up trade.
"America’s enemies long resisted this singular global role — but the Soviet Union succumbed to its internal contradictions, and China eventually realized it had to integrate into the global economy in order to lift its citizens out of poverty. Even so, Moscow and Beijing have long chafed at Washington’s leadership, and for the past decade, they’ve sought to counter and undermine it. They may now get their wish," the expert assessed.
In his opinion, Trump is not interested in maintaining Pax Americana like his predecessors. "He has long seen alliances as protection rackets, where a partnership’s value to the U.S. is how much it gets paid rather than the peace and security it provides. He doesn’t believe in trade or open markets, instead he favours imposing crushing tariffs on U.S. imports — up to levels last seen in the 1930s — even if all economists believe it will bring economic disaster," wrote Daalder.
He added that Donald Trump is also far from showing interest in defending democracy and the rule of law, and, in fact, deeply admires strongmen who oppose these values.
Europe left to its own devices? Washington is unlikely to be very helpful
In Daalder's opinion, as the U.S. turns away from alliances, Europe will be forced to take its own defense seriously. "Whether they do so will be up to them, of course, but Washington is unlikely to be of much help," he stated.
Ivo Daalder, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO, is the CEO of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and hosts the weekly podcast "World Review with Ivo Daalder."
