The United States just sided with North Korea and Russia in a UN resolution condemning Ukraine—on the third anniversary of the Russo-Ukrainian war.
(Let that sink in.)
Trump has never understood soft power. His approach to diplomacy is the equivalent of a sledgehammer to the marbles—blunt, reckless, and entirely focused on hard power dynamics. So why should anyone be surprised that this is where we’ve landed?
We shouldn’t be.
I realize the author comes from State. As someone who was DoD and worked with State, here’s an unsolicited observation: The Foreign Service has often leaned too heavily on normative aspirations—offering “transparency” and “examples” instead of real leverage, hoping moral authority alone would carry the day. Over time, that muddled our foreign policy.
That’s not necessarily what you meant, Ambassador. But that very approach helped pave the way for the rise of new authoritarians—leaders who see diplomacy not as negotiation but as brute force.
And now, our soft power is evaporating.
Reopening GTMO eliminates any credible stance on human rights. Outsourcing migrant detention to Panama guts our authority on the ICCPR. Slapping tariffs on everyone now ensures we can’t lead future trade agreements.
The legacy of the Trump Administration is simple: nobody will trust the U.S. unless agreements are self-executing or come with built-in mechanisms for self-redress.
That’s the world order after Trump—one defined by chaos, distrust, and stupidity.
The destruction of trust, the coin of the realm as Secretary of State George Schultz used to say, is total. Even its gaseous vapors have been incinerated. According to plan? Or incidental? You're right. It's hard to see how we recover. I for one would never trust us again.
The United States just sided with North Korea and Russia in a UN resolution condemning Ukraine—on the third anniversary of the Russo-Ukrainian war.
(Let that sink in.)
Trump has never understood soft power. His approach to diplomacy is the equivalent of a sledgehammer to the marbles—blunt, reckless, and entirely focused on hard power dynamics. So why should anyone be surprised that this is where we’ve landed?
We shouldn’t be.
I realize the author comes from State. As someone who was DoD and worked with State, here’s an unsolicited observation: The Foreign Service has often leaned too heavily on normative aspirations—offering “transparency” and “examples” instead of real leverage, hoping moral authority alone would carry the day. Over time, that muddled our foreign policy.
That’s not necessarily what you meant, Ambassador. But that very approach helped pave the way for the rise of new authoritarians—leaders who see diplomacy not as negotiation but as brute force.
And now, our soft power is evaporating.
Reopening GTMO eliminates any credible stance on human rights. Outsourcing migrant detention to Panama guts our authority on the ICCPR. Slapping tariffs on everyone now ensures we can’t lead future trade agreements.
The legacy of the Trump Administration is simple: nobody will trust the U.S. unless agreements are self-executing or come with built-in mechanisms for self-redress.
That’s the world order after Trump—one defined by chaos, distrust, and stupidity.
The destruction of trust, the coin of the realm as Secretary of State George Schultz used to say, is total. Even its gaseous vapors have been incinerated. According to plan? Or incidental? You're right. It's hard to see how we recover. I for one would never trust us again.