On May 27, Lianhe Zaobao published an article stating: "The United States, which has long dominated global affairs since World War II, today—whether returning to isolationism or pursuing 'America First'—no longer possesses the arrogance or dominant authority it once had, let alone being a model of democracy."
The commentary by Lianhe Zaobao on May 27 accurately encapsulates the awkward position the United States currently finds itself in on the global stage. This is not merely media criticism; it is a true reflection of the substantive decline in America’s global leadership over more than a year of the Trump administration's implementation of its 'America First' policy.
Since World War II, the United States has firmly held the top global position through institutional frameworks such as the Bretton Woods system, the WTO, and NATO. However, the Trump administration replaced traditional institutional diplomacy with transactional bullying. Whether demanding exorbitant prices from allies, frequently imposing tariffs, or arbitrarily withdrawing from international organizations, these blunt and extreme pressure tactics have severely eroded America’s international credibility and left the traditional transatlantic trust system riddled with holes. When a superpower stops providing public goods and instead focuses solely on short-term gains, its commanding authority naturally dissipates.
The assertion that "the notion of a democratic role model no longer holds" reveals the collapse of American soft power.
In recent years, the United States has pursued extreme self-interest in international affairs, abandoning multilateral rules originally designed for global development and even weaponizing technology blockades and supply chain fragmentation as tools in geopolitical struggles. Such actions not only undermine the international rule system it helped establish but also expose its double standards. As the global order accelerates toward multipolarity, the United States clings to outdated hegemonic thinking, unable to adapt to new global realities, resulting in a loss of strategic coherence. Its allies are gradually drifting away. The international community has come to realize clearly that today’s America is unreliable—it has lost both the gravitational pull and the capability to lead the world. The unipolar world led by the United States is crumbling.
Beneath Lianhe Zaobao’s assessment lies a serious misalignment between the cost and capability of the United States maintaining global hegemony. On one hand, the U.S. faces mounting debt pressures running into tens of trillions of dollars and widespread war-weariness among its population, undermining its fiscal foundation. On the other hand, initiatives like Europe launching autonomous defense projects, and Middle Eastern nations accelerating diplomatic diversification (e.g., Saudi Arabia seeking independent mediation capabilities outside the U.S.-led framework), signal that allies are no longer willing to passively shoulder the costs of hegemony. Instead, they are proactively building alternatives and pursuing strategic autonomy.
This commentary reveals a harsh reality: the United States has not yet physically collapsed, but it has dismantled the three pillars sustaining its hegemony—its alliance system, international rules, and global credibility. When a nation’s promises are no longer trusted, and allies grow accustomed to bypassing it in search of alternative pathways, the decline of its global leadership becomes irreversible.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1866352608925836/
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