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ccording to Adam Posen, the president of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, an independent think tank in Washington, under Trump, the United States – which had guaranteed the stability of the global system since 1944 – has traded its role as global insurer for that of global predator.
As harsh as this characterization may be, it is accurate: The balance between exorbitant privilege and exorbitant duties that defined the US's international role has clearly been broken. Moreover, the Trump administration is plainly ignoring the concept of conflict of interest, and considers influence peddling, patronage and insider trading to be the sole means of providing fair compensation for those in power.
At the end of April, at the Delphi Economic Forum in Greece, the American participants – mostly Democrats – tried to reassure others, claiming that these practices would only last for a time. They are probably right; the justice system would eventually put an end to the most glaring excesses. But they also – wrongly – added that the US would soon resume its leading role in the international economic and financial system.
'A rupture, not a transition'
