Trump's Threats, Tariffs Are Reshaping the World Order

As per the current dispensation, for far too long, adversaries and allies alike have been taking advantage of the U.S. America has now decided that it must change its strategic approach and be much more transactional and ruthless in its dealings.

- Maj Gen Jagatbir Singh (Retd)

Wars were easy to define, but now most countries do not know when they are at war and with whom they are engaging in conflict. This is because kinetic means are no longer the dominant tool in imposing a nation's will.

Ever since President Trump returned to power, this has been even more evident, and he has not distinguished between friends and foes as he concentrates on reshaping the world and is no longer willing to underwrite the expenses.

The policy shifts include territorial claims and economic threats. He has expressed a desire to make Canada the 51st state, annex Greenland, and the Panama Canal and get Gaza Strip under direct American control. Apart from that, he has cut the tap as far as supplies to Ukraine go and has shown Europe a mirror as regards the U.S. underwriting their security bill. He has also expanded his trade offensive against China, Canada, and Mexico.

A Historical Precedence

While there may be a sense of alarm, the fact is that during the Cold War, the U.S. resorted to economic coercion against allies. While administrations differed from Trump in tone, the message of the threats was often similar: follow U.S. policy or face serious economic damage.

In 1948, for example, the Truman administration threatened to suspend the Marshall Plan from the Netherlands unless they abandoned their counterinsurgency against the Indonesian nationalist movement. The U.S. felt that the Indonesian nationalists could be counted on as allies in the Cold War and therefore threatened to cut off aid, which forced the Dutch to grant Indonesia independence within a year.