Dial down the panic over Trump's nationalism and protectionism

THE news that Donald J Trump will be the Republican presidential nominee may have come as a shock to many observers around the world, and even to American pundits who had dismissed the former television reality show personality as nothing more than an entertaining phenomenon.

Much of the concern in the capitals of America's military allies and trade partners is over the nationalist and protectionist agendas that the New York real estate magnate has been advancing, including his calls to reassess US defence commitments in the Pacific and the Atlantic and his threats to punish China and other economies with punitive tariffs if they resist changing their trade policies.

But America's friends in Asia and elsewhere need not be too anxious and should probably take a deep breath as they continue following the presidential campaign in the United States, where most opinion polls suggest that presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, who subscribes to traditional internationalist positions, is leading over the presumptive Republican nominee. But even if the electoral gap between them narrows and the chances that Mr Trump would occupy the White House in the next four years grow, we should resist the expected global hysteria.