America And The Great Abdication

The United States has been a world power since the end of World War II, and it has been an uncontested superpower since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. The world as it stands today is one which has been fundamentally shaped (and some would say dictated) by American interests and their creation of a so-called 'rules-based' world order.

As we enter 2018 however, America's position as a sole Superpower ready to continue to lead the world is in question. The rise of other competing world powers, such as China, has played a role in this, as America is now relatively less economically powerful than it was in the past. However, the retreat of the US from world leadership appears to not be driven by a lack of capacity, or a lack of power.

Instead, it appears to stem from a lack of will.

American voters, through electing Donald Trump (and in their support for the similarly isolationist Bernie Sanders), have shown that they no longer believe that world leadership is worth the price. Rather they would see their country focus inward on issues of social inequality or perceived disengagement of working-class whites.

Richard Haass' article for The Atlantic looks at the different ways in which superpowers retreat from the world, and how Trump fits into these patters. Moreover, it catalogues the ways in which this retreat manifested itself over the last year and the dangers that this will pose for the world if it continues.