Opinion | The End of Pax Americana

The sun has not set on American power. What I think it is setting on is on the legitimate exercise in use of that power on the world stage. For eight decades after World War II, the United States created and nurtured and led a system of alliances and institutions that not only promoted and served American values and interests, but also prevented major conflicts from breaking out among the great powers. That system, the Pax Americana, the American peace, is vanishing. And it’s vanishing because it was based on power, which we still have, but it was also based on legitimacy and trust: trust in American leadership, trust in American judgment, trust in American intentions. And that trust is eroding. It’s eroding when you attack Iran without consulting your allies and then retroactively try to enlist them in helping you out. It is eroding when you threaten a NATO ally with taking Greenland. It erodes when you denigrate this system that you’ve created because you’ve decided that leadership is for suckers. The U.S. wants the benefit of hegemony under Trump. It doesn’t want the responsibilities of being the hegemon, ensuring collective security, promoting economic openness, nurturing these alliances. Trump doesn’t really want to behave like a superpower. He wants to wield superpowers.