Anticipating America's return to the world under Biden

PUNDITS will be writing, in the days ahead, long obituaries of the administration of Donald Trump.

There is material aplenty, not least how the self-proclaimed populist president sought to sow political divisions among Americans; ignite resentment against minorities and immigrants; debase the public discourse and create chaos and policy dysfunction in Washington; not to mention the colossal failure of his response to the coronavirus pandemic that has already killed close to a quarter million Americans.

But from the perspective of America's international security and trade allies, and everyone who still regards the United States as a political and economic model, what stands out from the Trump era would be the way the erstwhile Leader of the Free World abandoned its role as a global leader and gave a cold shoulder to the global community. Promoting a "nationalist" America First agenda, Mr Trump replaced the internationalist agenda that has guided Washington since the end of World War II with a mishmash of isolationist and protectionist policies that confused and antagonised many of America's partners in the world.