My Take | Some day, we might miss the world’s policeman
Russia’s Putin, China’s Xi , America’s Trump, Israel’s Netanyahu – all believe what they do in their own countries are their own business and no one else’s
Rodrigo Duterte is preaching to the choir – in America. Speaking on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in the Peruvian capital Lima, the Philippine president again blasted the United States for its “hypocrisy,” “bullying” of smaller nations and launching foreign wars.
“I see a lot of these Western nations bullying small nations,” he said. “They are into so much hypocrisy. They seem to start a war but are afraid to go to war. That is what is wrong with America and the others.”
The funny thing is, many Americans agree with him, including their president-elect, Donald Trump. Of course, they won’t use his vocabulary. But many would agree that it’s not in America’s self-interest to be the world’s policeman, “the indispensable nation”, “the city on the hill” or the leading light of democracy upholding the liberal international order since the end of the second world war.
Trump is famous for flip-flopping on key policy issues. But on US global dominance and responsibility, his core belief is crystal clear: it’s America First.
This means US national and security interests are defined narrowly, rather than globally. If US allies want American help, they will have to pay up. It used to be that other countries had national interests, but only the US had global interests. Trump doesn’t buy that fundamental axiom of US foreign policy.