As Trump Turns His Back to the International Community, China is Working to Fill the Void

Aristotle is credited with the notion that "nature abhors a vacuum," meaning that when there is a vacuum there will be a natural tendency to fill it. It also applies in social systems, business, politics and, especially, international relations [IR]. In business terms, think of it this way; when one company folds, others will rush in to capture the remaining market. It's a natural tendency and it generally happens quickly.

As President Donald Trump fleshed out his "America First" agenda, ["the future does not belong to globalists. The future belongs to patriots,"] and withdrew or threatened to withdraw America from numerous international agreements and institutions, many IR experts warned that the President is creating a global vacuum that China will gladly fill. And, as the Economist points out in an insightful piece with the subtitle, "As America gets tired, China gets busy," that is exactly what is happening.

Economist: "President Xi Jinping portrays China as a champion of multilateralism and talks of taking “an active part in leading the reform of the global governance system”. China has been building channels of influence outside the institutions that America designed. It set up the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, encroaching on the World Bank’s territory. It has championed the brics (bringing it together with Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa) and the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation, an eight-member group that includes Russia and Central Asian countries as well as India and Pakistan. And then there is Mr Xi’s Belt and Road Initiative (bri), an all-embracing infrastructure and development campaign."

Despite all his huff and bluster toward China, no nation is gaining more from Trump's decision to relinquish America's leadership position in the world.

Because of domestic concerns during the Trump administration, there hasn't been enough focus on the hash this President is making of America's foreign relations. Over the coming weeks, we will revisit some of the President's unfortunate foreign policy blunders and their consequences.

#news #internationalrelations #Trump

By: Don Lam & Curated Content