US President Donald Trump’s recent rhetoric and conduct on the international stage have increasingly unsettled observers across the world. From Venezuela to Greenland and Iran, he has repeatedly conveyed a troubling message: that international norms are negotiable, and that pressure, threats, and coercion can be mobilized as routine instruments of statecraft.

Naturally, reactions vary. Unease is reasonable. Alarm is understandable. But some reactions move too quickly from anxiety to surrender: “The age of rules and norms is over,” “international law no longer matters,” “the world has entered an era of lawlessness.” Concluding that the system has already collapsed is neither analytically correct nor strategically wise. In international affairs, the most damaging moment is often not the disturbance itself, but the moment when societies convince themselves that disturbance is destiny and abandon the will to respond.

Premature pessimism is hazardous.

📰

Continue Reading on The Korea Herald

This preview shows approximately 15% of the article. Read the full story on the publisher's website to support quality journalism.

Read Full Article →