For nearly nine decades, America has undeniably been the most powerful country in the world.
We held hard power — military and economic leverage — with a terrifyingly strong and intact military from the end of the Second World War through the Cold War to today with an insane amount of defense spending.
But more importantly, we’ve held soft power — power of ideas and culture — through powerful diplomacy and the world’s best allyships, like NATO, the United Nations, United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement or the G7, among many, many others.
Obviously, these international relationships are designed for mutual benefit.
So when we restage President Donald Trump, the mastermind behind “The Art of the Deal,” to represent us, the warnings that thousands of people like me gave before his inauguration all ended up happening.
He promised cheaper egg prices “on day one.” He promised tariffs on Canada and Mexico “on Jan. 20.” He promised the end of the Ukraine-Russia war “in 24 hours.”
Instead, prices continue to rise, and I have absolutely zero idea what’s going on with the tariffs — and I think neither does Trump — and Vice President J.D. Vance thinks saying thanks is more important than ending the war in Ukraine.
On top of those unkept promises, within just a few weeks of his inauguration, other stock markets like Europe and China’s have continued to grow. However, ours has fallen a scary amount.
Not only is our domestic livelihood breaking apart between falling 401(k)s and a decreasing social security reserve, but our international alliances are also crumbling.
Trump’s confusing tariff policies against our allies like Mexico and Canada, or warmongering sentiments against allies like Panama, Canada and Greenland, or Elon Musk’s recommendations to withdraw from organizations like NATO and the UN have dramatically weakened America’s reputation on the global stage.
The punch line of this story? Naturally, it’s to ask how any of this may have to do with us.
There’s an innate question of whether America being the most dominant hegemon is a good thing.
Obvious criticisms of this power come from foreign adversaries like Russia or Venezuela.
For instance, the U.S.-Japan allyship exists as a mutual benefit: Japan gets military protection from the U.S. while America can place itself closer to countries like China and North Korea — who, obviously, see this as meddling and intrusive to their desires to conquer Taiwan and South Korea respectively.
Other critiques of this power are based on the moral framework that the Western sphere of dominance and influence is oppressive and dangerous.
For instance, Pine Gap, Australia has been a high source of controversy. This military base serves as a joint defense facility for Western allies in the Indo-Pacific region and functions as a hub to survey the other side of the world.
Pine Gap has been the source of intelligence for Western presence in the Middle East, while sitting on land from indigenous peoples.
Morally, these criticisms have a point. From covert international CIA operations in South America to Western presence in the Middle East, the U.S. being the global hegemon raises a lot of red flags.
But to limit our mindset to solely the status quo is a grave mistake. Because doing so ignores the question — what would happen if the US weren’t the hegemon?
As we see the U.S. losing power under this administration, we’re seeing who the alternative is — China.
As we break alliances with threats to tariff them or invade them, other countries, most visibly from Europe, become unwilling to trade with us, and choose to prefer China.
When we choose to embolden and empower China, they get more leeway in asserting dominance over countries like Taiwan and Hong Kong all while trading with Europe.
Don’t forget that a stronger China indicates more support for definitively dangerous countries like Russia and North Korea.
All of this to say, Trump’s passion for isolationism and American independence could have some merits.
But when his method of doing it is by attacking our own allies and destroying our international relationships while our domestic standard of living is materially worsening, it’s a wonder how he and his party continue to hold any support.
