The Bulwark: Sad Little Dictator Trump - "America as it Existed from WW II to 2016 is a Spent Force"

Trump is so weak that Xi Jinping doesn’t even feel the need to manipulate him anymore. Meanwhile the rest of the world is moving on from America too.

By Jonathan V. Last The Bulwark

1. Military Parades

China staged a massive military parade in Tiananmen Square on Wednesday. This is a thing authoritarian governments do. You will notice that it was infinitely more impressive than the sad military parade Donald Trump ordered for himself last June.

Xi Jinping opened the parade by appearing at Tiananmen Gate flanked by Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un. This was a reversal of the Cold War, with China as the senior partner and Russia the supplicant.

Xi then toured the vast display, his bust protruding from a presidential car, past troops, missiles, tanks, and drones. I encourage you to look at the video. Click around and really take in the scene.

Now I want you to contemplate that the American president probably watched this event and felt not revulsion, but jealously. Here is passage from a Wall Street Journal report last week:

“After the Washington parade, Trump told aides he was disappointed with the marching, and the U.S. Navy is trying to plan a bigger celebration this fall, hoping for a shimmering spectacle with seacraft, administration officials said.”

But you probably want some good news and I have it for you:

At least Trump wasn’t at the parade, standing next to Xi, Putin, and Kim, clapping like seal.

That’s right: When the world’s most powerful dictators gathered for a show of force, they wouldn’t let Trump sit at the big kids’ table with them, even though he’s spent the better part of a decade angling to join their club.

So we’ve got that going for us ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

2. Left Behind

The world is moving on from America.

Last week leaders from across the Indo-Pacific region assembled at Xi’s request to discuss their futures. Among them were Putin and India’s own aspiring authoritarian, Narendra Modi. The point of the meeting was to demonstrate that we now live in a post-American reality.

This is not Trump’s fault. It’s America’s.

We often discuss whether Trump is symptom or disease. The answer depends on the context. When it comes to foreign affairs, he is most definitely a symptom.

Trump’s second election was confirmation to the world that the American people can no longer be relied upon. We are too—well, you can fill in your own descriptor. Vapid? Decadent? Unserious? Inconstant? Whatever word you choose, the idea is the same: America as it existed from World War II to 2016 is a spent force. That age is over.

Other nations can no longer make long-term plans based on America. And so the world is now in the process of making alternative arrangements.

The Canadians are binding themselves to Europe. The Europeans are decoupling from America. The Russians are attempting to dominate the Europeans. The Middle East is getting ready for a post-petroleum future in which they function as the world’s hedge fund. The Indians are trying to become the Chinese.

And the Chinese have expanded their horizons. A decade ago they hoped to become a regional hegemon. Now they want to take the vacated seat at the head of the table and reorder the entire global order to their interests.

That’s the reality and there’s no going back. The American people exposed themselves and the rest of the world can’t unsee it.

But it could be worse. At least America will sit outside the Chinese-led order and not inside the tent as one of its authoritarian allies.

I have to admit to being surprised by this development. Prior to this summer I had thought Xi would treat Trump the way Putin does—by flattering him and treating him like an equal. After all, Trump has made it clear that he does not want to be “leader of the free world” so much as the don of one of the Five Families.

I had assumed Xi would pat Trump on the head and invite him to sit at the big kids’ table with the other dictators while he maneuvered the American oaf. That’s why, for a time this summer, it looked like Xi was going to invite Trump to attend the parade as his guest.

But evidently China is further along in its project than I realized, because Xi has reached the point where he no longer humors Trump. Which means that the Chinese believe America’s decline is terminal.¹

I’m sure that Trump takes this snub personally, but he shouldn’t.² When Xi no longer feels the need to flatter and manipulate Trump, he isn’t rendering a verdict on Trump’s impotence. He’s judging our entire country.

He’s probably correct.

A few months ago it looked like Trump was colluding with Putin and Xi to carve the globe into spheres of influence. That turned out to be a ploy. It was just Xi flattering Trump while he prepared to make a bigger play.

I don’t know about you, but I’m relieved by this change. Because I’d rather live in a world led by Chinese authoritarians than one led by an axis of Chinese and American dictators.

This way, at least it’s possible that America might regain its footing and recommit to liberalism. That’s a nice thought, isn’t it?

Mind you, if that day comes, it won’t matter to the rest of the world. They will have moved on into the next era and won’t be able to go backward, even if they wanted to.

But if we’re lucky, we might be able to preserve some of the niceties of our old way of life, just as the British did after the collapse of their empire.

1-This isn’t a new development. For decades the official Chinese line has been that the West, including the United States, is in long-term decline and the brief historical interlude in which China wasn’t the center of the world is ending.

2-Of course Trump can’t help but take it personally because he is incapable of separating the state from his person. In his mind, he is America; and vice versa.

Jonathan V. Last is Editor of The Bulwark. Subscribe to his daily newsletter, “The Triad” and the site’s other print, video and podcast products here.

Clockwise from top: Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Il, Xi Jinping (photo illustration by Slate).