The high costs of Trump upending the world order

Singapore plays its geopolitical cards carefully as it tries to maintain good relations with the United States in a region dominated by China. So it’s worth paying attention when its defense minister says that the image of the United States “has changed from liberator to great disrupter to a landlord seeking rent.” Its senior minister, Lee Hsien Loong, summed up the challenge the world faces: “The U.S. is no longer prepared to underwrite the global order. This makes the international environment far less orderly and predictable.”

In a few short weeks, the Trump administration has effected a revolution in foreign policy. It has largely abandoned a long-standing democratic ally, Ukraine, whose security the United States has pledged to uphold since signing the Budapest Memorandum 30 years ago. In fact, it now asks for a big share of Ukraine’s mineral wealth, which the administration describes as “payback” for U.S. support.

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