Trump's new America

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP'S second administration favours a multipolar world, but that does not mean it wants to end America's global primacy.

- ANITA INDER SINGH

Trump 2.0 has clearly defined its expectations of multipolarity. Shortly after Trump's inauguration as president on January 20, secretary of state Marco Rubio's assertion that multipolarity is the norm of Trump 2.0 took many by surprise.

At one level, the Trump-Rubio multipolarity does not imply cooperation by "America First". The logic is that the US is not responsible for the rest of the world.

Trump does not want the US to get involved in foreign wars, which is why he wants to see Russia and Ukraine at the peace table. This marks a departure from his predecessors who, since the end of World War II, held and preached that America is the economic, military, and moral leader of the world — and that it should stay that way. Rubio opined that as the sole superpower, the US "sort of" became "the global government, trying to solve every problem".

Now each country will do what is in its national interest. Where interests align, there will be partnerships and alliances. Where differences are not aligned, diplomacy will be tasked with preventing conflict "while still furthering our national interests and understanding they're going to further theirs".