The more immediate danger is that as America's soft power crumbles, the White House will lean harder on hard power — with predictably grim results.
Regions / Middle East & North Africa
Five decades of occupation have turned military violence into the norm for Palestinian children.
In one video clip, a glimpse of the Trump team's plan to divide Europe, cozy up to right-wing dictatorships, and rally the extreme right.
The "war on terror" has killed millions of innocent people. You don't have to be a "bad Muslim" to oppose that.
In 45 countries, U.S. military bases prop up undemocratic regimes of all sorts, while often interfering with local campaigns for democracy.
Trump's version of making up with Muslims apparently involves selling $110 billion worth of arms to the most reactionary Muslim country on the planet.
If the Trump administration truly wants to find a way out of the wars in the Middle East, it should stop arming, aiding, and abetting the ruthless Saudi regime.
A winning (losing) formula would look something like: Rush headlong into new conflicts. Create failed states. Prop up dictatorships. Alienate the public. Sound familiar?
No one expected Trump to be a peace president, but he seems bent on taking us to the verge of World War III.
As famine descends on a huge swath of the globe, the White House is rolling back aid, ramping up conflict, and risking more climate chaos.