5:59 v originále: US analyst Alex Kliment on Trump’s New World Disorder

Heavy-handed pressure on traditional allies, the imposition and subsequent withdrawal of sweeping tariffs on U.S. trading partners, wavering over the war in Ukraine, and outspoken attempts to acquire Greenland. Donald Trump has completed the first year of his second term in office and everybody is wondering: is there a method to the madness?

Ever since his return to the White House a year ago, Donald Trump has been shaking global affairs on an almost daily basis. With his dramatic political moves and often provocative statements there is a growing uncertainty among those who for decades relied on the United States as a guarantor of the global order.

„I think it’s not an exaggeration to say that Donald Trump is trying to carry out a revolution of a certain kind within American politics, a revolution in how American politics works and the power of the presidency, a revolution in what American society looks like in terms of who is in and who is out of that society, and a revolution in how American power is used across the world,“ Alex Kliment, senior editor at GZERO Media and editor of GZERO Daily, a newsletter about global politics, told 5:59 news podcast.

Listen to the full interview with Alex Kliment in the English version:

„It’s not clear whether that revolution will succeed, but we are definitely in the middle of a very strong attempt to make it succeed. And it’s a little disorienting, it’s a little terrifying, and it’s also - from a view of a political scientist - fascinating,“ says Kliment.

The New York City-based analyst points out to Donald Trump’s worldview, which differs significantly from that of his predecessors in the office, as the source of much of the mayhem in the global politics, most recently the spat over Greenland.

„He does not ascribe any particular value to longstanding alliances, does not ascribe any particular value to countries being democratic versus non-democratic, and does not believe in the idea of a multipolar world guided by international law and consensus,“ Alex Kliment argues.

In Trump’s view, he says, what matters in the world is power. And transactions are more important than alliances. „So when Trump is moving as he sees fit, I think Europe is going to be the part of the world that feels the biggest and most radical and most destabilizing change in American policy,“ the American analyst predicts.

Does Trump administration have a coherent strategy towards China? What could be considered his major foreign policy achievements? And how strong is Donald Trump at home? For more insights and analysis listen to the full 5:59 podcast in the player above.