Splintered US society deepens global concerns over country's decline

PUNDITS in the United States and around the world have sounded off in recent years about the so-called decline in America's global economic power and expressed concerns about the isolationist and protectionist trends among Americans, highlighted by the election of the nationalist Donald Trump as president.

But if anything, after two years of his "America First" presidency, under which the US has pursued a foreign policy and trade agenda contrary to the interests of some US partners, there is now a recognition in world capitals that notwithstanding all the talk about America's decline, the policy decisions made in Washington continue to have enormous impact on the political stability and economic growth in the rest in the world.

To put it differently, when Americans elect a president - or for that matter, those who represent them in Congress - their choices can make a difference for citizens in other countries. That has become obvious in the first half of President Trump's first term in office. Growing US trade tensions with China have sent shock waves across the financial markets and the global economy; the American response to the nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula raised fears of a war in East Asia, and perhaps even of a nuclear confrontation.