I fear the weak state

In the decades since, we’ve all too often taken for granted our institutions and their capacity to uphold the rule of law and sustain our democracy. We’ve certainly taken for granted the significance of career expertise and commitment at the State Department to help ensure continuity through administrations, manage crises, and promote American interests. After decades of dysfunction and drift, and now three years of unilateral diplomatic disarmament, it would be foolish to ignore the growing risks of a weak state.

Trump is the accelerator of this drift, not its inventor, as I’ve argued. After the Cold War, we grew complacent about diplomacy and its utility. We were the biggest kid on the geopolitical block, and sometimes felt we could get our way on our own, or by force alone. With Jesse Helms wielding the knife with relish, the budget for diplomacy and development was cut by 50 percent between 1985 and 2000. Then came the terrible jolt to our system of 9/11, and a further emphasis on military and intelligence tools, with diplomacy an under-resourced afterthought. State did itself no favors throughout this period, often more attuned to mounting challenges abroad than mounting challenges within its own building.

However sound his instincts on some policy issues—like pushing back against predatory Chinese trade practices—Trump has badly undermined American influence through his erratic unilateralism, disdain for expertise, and obsession with diplomacy as an exercise in narcissism. It is exactly the wrong prescription for this plastic moment in world affairs, when we’re no longer the only country calling the shots, and when diplomatic tools to cajole and coerce friends and foes alike are more important than ever.