The recent high point of American power and prestige was in 1991, right after our victory in the Gulf War at the head of a supremely broad coalition of nations. In the wake of that conflict, President George H. W. Bush saw the prospect of a “new world order” based on law rather than great power conflict. It was the logical culmination of America’s policy of global leadership through multilateral institutions that we had adopted in the wake of World War II.
By the time Obama came to office, those institutions were badly frayed, both by changes abroad (such as the rise of China) and American actions (the Kosovo war and the expansion of NATO, and especially the Iraq War). His major initiatives were aimed, once again, at shoring up that order. From the New Start treaty with Russia to the Iran deal to the “pivot” to Asia to the negotiations for the Paris climate treaty, Obama’s aim was to reaffirm America’s centrality to a community of cooperative and allied nations and to prevent the emergence of a serious great power rival.
His efforts were certainly not always successful. But the Trump administration came into office promising not merely a better plan for achieving the same aims, but new aims altogether. Far from aiming to preserve American centrality to world affairs, Trump vowed to get the best deal for America out of every bilateral relationship.
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