As the Trump Administration weaponises state power against critics, America’s self-image as the guardian of a rules-based international order is collapsing in real time, writes Mark Beeson. On the contrary, it is often regarded as the voice of “the Blob”, or the predominantly liberal policy-making elites who have articulated a rather smug and idealised view of America’s role in international affairs. Equally predictably, American power was invariably seen as a positive and “indispensable” force in international affairs and central to the preservation of the “rules-based international order”. The authors detail the pernicious impact of Trump’s policies, which have systematically undermined or weaponised key elements of the American political system, including the judiciary and even the military. If American democracy fails, or if the Trump Administration manages to undermine it in Europe, the future for less powerful outposts of liberal democracy like Australia will be lonely at best, existentially fraught at worst.

Source: The Guardian December 19, 2025 07:53 UTC