From a respected hegemon to a drifting power

As Washington is distracted and its credibility weakens, Russia probes NATO's periphery, betting a divided West will hesitate. China draws similar conclusions, increasing pressure around Taiwan and the South China Sea, assuming diminished deterrence and fragile alliances after Iran. An overextended, internally divided America invites calculated risk-taking.

Both powers also exploit the US retreat from development and multilateral engagement. They expand influence through infrastructure, energy, arms, and digital networks where US presence recedes. States affected by US sanctions and policy volatility increasingly see Chinese and Russian offers as more predictable. Even if US dependency follows, such ties become difficult to reverse over time.

Domestically, Trump has handed the US' adversaries a propaganda tool. Amplifying images of US dysfunction, racial tension, and institutional erosion, they argue that American democracy is failing. By fueling division, they make coherent foreign policy harder. An America at war with itself cannot project strategy, and its commitments lose credibility.

The Long Road Back

The question is whether the United States can recover-or whether the damage is permanent. Recovery remains possible if patriotic Republican and Democratic leaders confront the depth of the crisis and pursue structural change. The starting point must be bipartisan recommitment to democratic norms: protecting voting rights, depoliticizing law enforcement, respecting judicial independence, and defending a free press.

An America where globalization equates to insecurity will not sustain global leadership. Investment in infrastructure, green technology, innovation, and social protections is essential for both competitiveness and legitimacy. Citizens must feel that engagement abroad benefits them, not only elites.

In foreign policy, a post Trump consensus must re embed the US in alliances and multilateral institutions-treating allies as partners, not clients, and recognizing that shared rule making strengthens US power. Rejoining and reinforcing regimes on climate, arms control, global health, and nonproliferation would signal renewed responsibility.

Managing China and Russia will be the central test. The US must combine deterrence with disciplined diplomacy, investing in critical technologies, protecting infrastructure, coordinating responses to cyber and economic coercion, and engaging in arms control. The aim is not unipolarity but a stable balance where coercion is costly and norms endure.

Finally, the US must rebuild soft power by embracing openness. A renewed commitment to human rights, foreign aid, academic exchange, immigration, and cultural engagement would stand in sharp contrast to recent xenophobia. Such efforts can restore America's image as effectively as military strength.

The road back will be long, with no guarantee of success. Trump has not only damaged America's standing but also exposed vulnerabilities that adversaries will exploit. Yet the crisis presents a choice. If Republicans and Democrats, especially as midterms approach, put country over office-rebuilding democracy, recommitting to alliances, and rejecting unilateral militarism-the US can regain moral footing rather than remain a declining power.

Whether the United States recovers from this self inflicted wound depends on the choices its leaders have yet to make. America may not regain unipolar dominance, but it can help shape a more stable and decent order-if it proves to the world, and itself, that it can still govern and lead responsibly.