Yet 2025 still felt like a new era. U.S. President Donald Trump introduced an overtly transactional outlook. He blew up the international trading system with unilateral U.S. tariffs. He withdrew the United States, again, from several international bodies. Under Trump, the United States declined to attend the annual U.N. climate summit, or COP30, in Brazil and the G-20 in South Africa. It was a far cry from the days, not so long ago, when the United States would lead the way in corralling and coaxing countries to reach lofty agreements at major global summits. Again, those were usually flawed plans, and they often failed—but at least there was a public attempt at multilateralism.
We’ve all heard the critiques.
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