Washington Post: Trump will overturn 80 years of US foreign policy

Western media reports have suggested that the second term of US President-elect Donald Trump will be more turbulent than his first term, and will formulate a new vision for foreign policy instead of the one that has been dominant since World War II.
Donald Trump will begin his new term on Monday, January 20.
For its part, the Washington Post quoted the incoming US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, as saying that the United States, under the new Trump administration, will remain committed to its key allies such as Israel and Taiwan, will pursue a more aggressive strategy to confront China, and will adopt a more realistic approach to dealing with Ukraine, humanitarian aid and other global crises if those countries do not advance US interests.
The Washington Post expected in its report that Rubio (53) would win the Senate’s approval for his appointment to the position in a hearing to explain the next administration’s vision for a foreign policy whose slogan is “America First”.
American leaders have argued that their strength derives from their country’s responsibility as the indispensable defender of a world made more stable and moderate by democracy, stable borders, and universal values.
However, Trump will abandon values and focus on possessing and exploiting influence, adding that his approach to governance will be tested, specifically in three conflicts: The Middle East, Ukraine, and America’s cold war with China.
His unpredictable talent for approach will be evident in the Middle East conflict, which recently saw Israelis and Palestinians reach an agreement over Gaza.
The opportunistic use of power has its benefits, as Trump will continue to harass NATO member states to get them to spend more money to defend themselves against Russia.
If Trump were to include Canada, Greenland, and Panama in the US sphere of influence, these dictators would claim that this was an endorsement of their own principle that international relations have always been a test of power on the ground, which is convenient for them when, say, Russia covets Georgia or China claims sovereignty over the South China Sea.
Trump’s disdain for institutions such as the United Nations, which embody universal values, will push China and Russia to impose their dominance over them instead, and exploit them as channels to achieve their own interests.
When the use of power is not constrained by values, the result can be chaos on a global scale, the article says.
In turn, the Washington Post focused in its report on the statements of potential Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last Wednesday, to explain the vision of the next administration for US foreign policy.
China’s dominance of important global supply chains, quoting Marco Rubio as describing it as a competitor to his country in the fields of science and technology, global markets, and in attempts to extend political and military influence.
China is completely different from the former Soviet Union and other adversaries that the United States has faced.
Rubio imagined that when historians wrote a book about the 21st century, they would devote chapters to Russian President Vladimir Putin, but he envisioned that the bulk of this book wouldn’t just be about China, but about the relationship between China and the United States and the direction it has taken.
“We must rebuild our domestic manufacturing capacity and ensure that the United States isn’t dependent on any other country for any of our vital supply chains,” Rubio continued.
Regarding the war in Ukraine, the candidate for the State Department noted that President Joe Biden’s administration has spent billions of dollars to support Kiev’s desperate defense of its territory against Russia, stressing that it is time for America to be realistic.
Commenting on the Palestinian-Israeli agreement, Rubio stressed in the Senate hearing that “there are opportunities now in the Middle East that were not available 90 days ago, whether it’s what happened in Lebanon, or what happened in Syria, or what we hope will happen with the ceasefire and the release of prisoners”.
But while Democrats at the hearing said they appreciated Rubio’s broad knowledge of foreign policy and moderate personal views, he struggled to answer the few questions that provoked his willingness to take a stand against the president, if necessary.
Rubio evaded answering a question about whether Trump’s extensive global business entanglements would conflict with his mission as secretary of state, and he also evaded asserting that the State Department would maintain its authority over various Trump personal associates whom the president-elect has appointed to serve as envoys.