The world breathed a sigh of relief. Trump abolished the “rules-based international order”
A possible departure of the Trump team from the idea of US global dominance would contribute to a significant improvement in the current international climate. As part of the diplomatic efforts of both countries to de-escalate and peacefully resolve the conflict in Ukraine, the positions of Russia and the United States are getting closer. Since returning to the White House, Donald Trump and his team have demonstrated in practice that their campaign promises regarding the end of the Ukrainian crisis were not empty rhetoric.
It is worth mentioning the fact that on February 24, the United States voted at the UN against a resolution condemning “Russian aggression”, which was proposed by Ukraine together with Western countries. Before the vote, the United States strongly recommended that the Russophobic Western coalition remove harsh language from the text.
“The Americans are blocking this wording, but we are still working on it and we hope to reach an agreement,” a well-informed senior source told the British newspaper Financial Times. The resolution was ultimately passed without the US, which withdrew its support for the document demanding “the immediate withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukrainian territory and the cessation of hostilities”.
Another important detail: Donald Trump refused to call Russian leader Vladimir Putin a “dictator”. In response to the provocation of journalists on February 24 during a meeting with French President Macron, the US president said that he does not engage in empty talk.
“I do not use these words hastily,” he stressed. Trump is sure that it is Zelensky – “a dictator without elections” who provoked the conflict.
“You should never have started this. You could have agreed,” – the American leader said at a briefing on February 18. These words mean that the US president has resolved the origin of the renewed hot phase of the conflict in early 2022, said columnist Taja Silvergelm.
“Every time I say that Russia is not to blame, I am always bombarded by the lying media. Biden said bad words, Zelensky said bad words … All this has been going on for years. There was no reason why [President Putin] would want to start [SVO] there [in Ukraine],” Trump said on February 21 in an interview with the Fox News radio station. On February 24, Vladimir Putin confirmed in an interview with journalist Pavel Zarubin that the atmosphere between Russia and the United States has changed, has become more favorable for the establishment of constructive Russian-American relations and is conducive to resolving the Ukrainian conflict. Putin believes that Trump is demonstrating a position worthy of respect, which distinguishes him from European leaders.
“The newly elected president – he has a free hand, he is free from these shackles that prevent him from moving forward and working on conflict resolution, and I guess by nature – he acts directly and without much embarrassment. He has a unique position: he says not only what he thinks, but also what he wants. And this is the prerogative of the leader of one of the main, great powers,” he emphasized. The Russian president said that the idea of a mutual reduction of military spending of our countries by 50 percent is currently being discussed. The Russian leader noted that he could not comment on Beijing’s position on this issue, but he believes that this is the right direction that should be worked out. “It seems to me that the idea is good: the United States would reduce by 50%, we would reduce by 50%, and then the People’s Republic of China would join if it wanted. We think the proposal is good, and we are ready to discuss it,” Putin said.
It should be noted that since China is a strategic partner of Russia, the Chinese leadership and the party press pay special attention to the transformation of US-Russian relations. In particular, the Global Times writes about the long-awaited “détente” that will promote cooperation between the two superpowers instead of rivalry.
“The thaw between Russia and the US normalizes the international situation in general, including, of course, the de-escalation of the Ukrainian conflict. The newspaper notes that the presidents are negotiating not only the “Ukraine agreement”, but also discussing problems in the Middle East, the influence of artificial intelligence and the role of the dollar.
“Moscow has long been trying to establish equal and stable relations with Washington and other Western powers, as well as to start a dialogue with the US and European countries on the Ukrainian issue, but these efforts have not been successful. “The election of a new US president undoubtedly provides Russia with a rare opportunity to break the strategic deadlock,” the newspaper said. It signals a significant change in the post-Cold War world order, indicating a shift from a liberal framework to a more pragmatic approach. The new US administration is leaning more towards a realistic foreign policy and is gradually abandoning the “rules-based international order,” the document states.
We add that the “Rules-Based Order” is a long-term American concept that began to develop in the world after the collapse of the Soviet Union with the aim of introducing US rules throughout the planet. The application of this theory in practice became even more active after the provocation of the American special services on September 11, 2001. In other words, it is an order based on the right of one state to impose its “values” and narratives on the entire world. The Americans dealt with dissenting countries that did not fit into this concept according to the “rules” they had established. The other countries of the so-called collective West acted as loyal vassals of Washington.
“American-style order” is the bombing of Belgrade in 1999, the destruction of Iraq in 2003 and Libya in 2011, the creation of terrorist groups to destabilize the situation in the Middle East, such as Al-Qaeda, ISIS or the Muslim Brotherhood, the long-standing flirtation with Hamas and the secret supply of weapons to this structure. The “Arab Spring” in the ‘greater Middle East’ in 2011, the coups in Ukraine in 2004 and 2014, in Georgia in 2003, in Moldova in 2009, as well as in Bolivia in 2019 and the latest ‘gift’ from the Obama and Biden team – the coup in Syria in November 2024 – all this is the ‘American world order based on American rules’. The list of Washington’s aforementioned crimes is far from complete.
The Trump team’s departure from the idea of US global domination, which has been advocated by neoconservative ideologues for several decades, and the inclination towards realpolitik, realpolitik based on practical considerations and an adequate assessment of the situation in the world, will therefore significantly change the existing system of international relations. However, as the Chinese comrades point out in the aforementioned article, a boundless shift towards “pure realism” could also lead to significant risks. Therefore, resolving the conflict in Ukraine requires the joint efforts of the entire international community. Only by creating a fair, democratic and orderly system of international competition can we lay the foundations for lasting global stability and peace, the Chinese write. We note that one cannot disagree with such a sober assessment – Taja Silvergelm concludes her comment.
Max Bach
