The hard fall of American soft power

Six months after Donald Trump summarily destroyed USAID as one of his first acts on taking office, US soft power is in steep decline.

America’s place in a changing world

Democratic allies should call out America’s brutish approach to resetting its relations with them and work together in fields where the USA used to lead but Trump is at least addressing problems too many have left to fester for too long.

The wrong answers to the right questions

New York Times columnist David Brooks once remarked that Donald Trump is the wrong answer to the right questions—a sentiment that captures the core challenge facing US policy in East Asia.

Embracing abundance

The economic chaos, personal cruelty and cultural vandalism wrought by Donald Trump means the Democrats must clip his wings at the November 2026 mid-term elections, and a bestselling new book might be the key.

The hard fall of soft power

The erosion of American soft power, accelerated by the hollowing out of foreign aid and Washington’s turn to protectionism, marks a retreat from the global influence the United States once had and can only leave the world poorer and more vulnerable to authoritarian aggression.

The rise of “techno-fascism”

Donald Trump’s unprecedented assault on American government and democracy has its roots in the writings of techno-fascists like Curtis Yarvin.

Enter the Antichrist

Donald Trump posted an AI-generated photograph of himself dressed as the pope to Truth Social on May 3 which was then shared by several White House’s accounts. Is this what the AntiChrist looks like?

The myth of American liberalism

In his latest book, “Illiberal America: A History”, the Pulitzer Prize winning historian Steven Hahn explores a country that, remains deeply divided in terms of ethnicity, language, religion, wealth and educational achievement.

Rethinking Pax Americana

The United States is behaving erratically and imprudently, not least by lashing out at its allies and partners and by confusing financial markets, as Trump rails at what he sees as foreign freeloading on American might.

ChatGPTariff

The debacle resulting from Donald Trump’s imposition then partial postponement of a tariff trade-way may have been fueled, in part, by a credulous reliance on AI which doesn’t leave anyone in a good light.

Backsliding into tyranny

The United States is moving dangerously close to authoritarianism as the second Trump administration shows no regard for law, democratic processes or political freedoms.

A letter to America

Donald Trump’s quest to ‘make America great again’ is measured only in money and is destroying the values which made America great in the first place.