{"id":979,"date":"2018-05-11T11:37:58","date_gmt":"2018-05-11T15:37:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gopplaybook.com\/?p=979"},"modified":"2018-05-12T11:53:32","modified_gmt":"2018-05-12T15:53:32","slug":"opinions-trump-has-put-america-in-the-worst-of-all-possible-worlds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gopplaybook.com\/?p=979","title":{"rendered":"Opinions: Trump has put America in the worst of all possible worlds"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By\u00a0Anne Applebaum<\/a><\/span>\u00a0Columnist<\/span>\u00a0May 11 <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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\nPresident Trump displays his signed memorandum that reinstates sanctions on Iran. (Chip Somodevilla)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
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In retrospect, the era of American hegemony \u2014 the moment of the \u201csole superpower,\u201d when the United States was the \u201cessential\u201d country \u2014 was remarkably brief. It began in 1991, with the\u00a0collapse of the Soviet Union<\/a>, probably peaked just before 9\/11, and for the past decade \u2014 under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama \u2014 it has been drawing slowly and unevenly to an end. Even while it lasted, this hegemony was partly a game of smoke and mirrors. It depended on perceptions: belief in American wealth, fear of American military power, admiration for American values. It depended on the absence of opponents: the collapse of the Soviet Union, the relative weakness of China.<\/p>\n

Above all, it depended on an American willingness to invest: in diplomacy, in military power \u2014 but above all in alliances. By forging mutually advantageous agreements with Germans or\u00a0South Koreans<\/a>, the United States had far greater influence than it would have had otherwise. By creating and then expanding\u00a0NATO<\/a>, by maintaining\u00a0troops in South Korea and Japan<\/a>, the United States kept parts of Europe and Asia free to choose democracy, and open for commerce and trade. Everywhere else, agreements and partnerships as well as money and armies gave the United States an outsize voice in trade and commerce, as well as matters of war and peace.<\/p>\n

President Trump knows no history and does not have any idea how the United States became an \u201cessential\u201d country, let alone a superpower. But he seems to believe that he can maintain that status, and even increase it, without making investments \u2014 diplomatic, military or monetary \u2014 at all.\u00a0This\u00a0week, the outline of what this means \u2014 call it \u201chegemony on the cheap\u201d \u2014 suddenly came into sharp focus.<\/p>\n

Perhaps unexpectedly, Trump\u2019s abrupt\u00a0withdrawal<\/a>\u00a0from the Iran nuclear deal exposed America\u2019s weak hand. For we left \u2014 but then what? In different circumstances \u2014 after negotiations, after obtaining proof that Iran was in\u00a0violation<\/a>\u00a0of the deal \u2014 it might have been possible to recreate the international coalition that imposed sanctions so successfully in the first place. In different circumstances, it might also have been possible to change the deal: That\u2019s what the French president and German chancellor\u00a0were offering<\/a>\u00a0during their recent visits to Washington, though their efforts were rebuffed. In different circumstances, it might even have been possible to threaten Iran militarily \u2014 not a position I advocate, but I can imagine how it could be done.<\/p>\n

Instead, we are now in the\u00a0worst of all possible worlds<\/a>. We have broken the agreement with Iran, but we are unable to impose a new\u00a0sanctions<\/a>\u00a0regime in its place. Instead of making a diplomatic investment, we are shouting and barking orders. Just after Trump\u2019s announcement, the American ambassador to Germany\u00a0issued a threat<\/a>\u00a0on Twitter: \u201cGerman companies doing business in Iran should wind down operations immediately.\u201d As a result, European leaders are not talking about Iran. They are talking about how they can protect their companies from American sanctions, and how they might\u00a0retaliate<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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