According to Adam Posen, the president of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, an independent think tank in Washington, under Trump, the United States – which had guaranteed the stability of the global system since 1944 – has traded its role as global insurer for that of global predator.
As harsh as this characterization may be, it is accurate: The balance between exorbitant privilege and exorbitant duties that defined the US’s international role has clearly been broken. Moreover, the Trump administration is plainly ignoring the concept of conflict of interest, and considers influence peddling, patronage and insider trading to be the sole means of providing fair compensation for those in power.
At the end of April, at the Delphi Economic Forum in Greece, the American participants – mostly Democrats – tried to reassure others, claiming that these practices would only last for a time. They are probably right; the justice system would eventually put an end to the most glaring excesses. But they also – wrongly – added that the US would soon resume its leading role in the international economic and financial system.
‘A rupture, not a transition’
To believe that will happen is a dangerous illusion. The US has lost its moral authority for good. In terms of governance, it once set an example to others as a democracy where executive power was balanced by Congressional oversight and the independence of federal agencies was respected (starting with the Federal Reserve). These norms, often unwritten, were not enshrined in any international treaty, but because they pointed the way forward, they played an essential role and amplified the influence of the administration in power.
Even if Donald Trump’s successor wanted the country to reclaim its place in the international system, they would face two obstacles – one external, the other internal. The external obstacle is that the rest of the world has lost confidence in America. By pulling the US out of 66 multilateral organizations and by dismantling the federal agency in charge of development funding, Trump ended Truman and Kennedy’s legacy.
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