
Can the CIA and U.S. military stop the Mexican cartels?
CIPHER BRIEF REPORTING — On January 20, the first day of his second term, President Donald Trump formally labeled Mexico’s crime cartels as international terrorists. Last […] More
The world got a taste last week of what “America First” means: insulting Iraqis who’ve risked their lives with U.S. forces; blacklisting dual-citizen legislators in Canada; and jeopardizing the political standing of leaders, like Enrique Pena Nieto and Theresa May, who try to work with the new American President.
Yet, the visa ban merely accelerated the trend; other nations were already recalibrating.
China seems to be the main beneficiary of “America First.” Indeed, one Chinese scholar told me last summer, “We like Trump because he’ll vacate space for us to move into.” However, China is not always the instigator: The Philippine, Indian, and Kazakh examples should show us that others are looking to take care of themselves.
Certainly, not all enjoy freedom of action. Mexico and Canada are condemned to be our neighbors. We still represent almost one quarter of the world economy, a market hard to pass up for any major company. Our technologies and brands remain strong. Yet, increasingly producers look to new players and new markets –the populous markets of China and India—as the poles of growth.
For the last 75 years, the United States constituted the organizing principle of international order: the one to join, the one to attack, the one to follow. We created military alliances, the World Trade Organization, and the international monetary system. Every country, for better or for worse, had to consider the U.S. view before deciding its own position. The America First path leads to a place where no other country will follow, where the U.S. is no longer the first thought but an afterthought.
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