“The America is a declining power and will certainly lose its hegemonic position in competition with other rivals.” This statement, with similar themes and interpretations, has been heard for years by some analysts and professors of international relations in various circles, but it was raised more strongly with the presidency of Donald Trump.
Donald Trump and the Decline of America
These days, of course, with the coming to power of new US President Joe Biden, the debate over whether he can restore “American leadership” on the world stage after the Trump era has intensified.
The reality, however, is that the problem of the decline of American leadership in the world is more rooted in the disappearance of Trump’s departure and Biden’s arrival, even though Biden’s thinking is part of America’s problem, not its solution.
The issue is so significant that former US President Barack Obama, in his congratulatory message on Biden’s victory, also expressed concern about the message of this election: “What these events tell us is that we are deeply divided. If each of us were to work on the basis of a completely different set of statistics and information, the conditions for our democracy would be very difficult, and that worries me.”
Rebecca Lisner, an assistant professor at the US Naval War College, is another analyst who says the effects of Trump’s foreign policy will continue. The professor told the Financial Times that Trump’s decisions to pull Washington out of all these international agreements would forever create the impression that US presidents could not force our next administrations to adhere to current agreements, especially given the increase. The polarity of American politics is a very significant issue.
Lisner says: “The era of major agreements is over. The likely issue is that our partners will no longer trust the United States to live up to its commitments. “Even if the America wants to regain its traditional leadership, we will always be the country that elected Donald Trump.”
The decline of American leadership, according to opinion polls
Recent polls in the world’s most prestigious institutions show a decline in the world’s satisfaction with the US leadership and a decline in US hegemony. For example, the Gallup Institute recently cited the results of a survey of 29 countries as saying that the average satisfaction rate with the United States has dropped from 22 percent in 2017 to less than 18 percent.
For example, the Gallup Institute recently cited the results of a survey of 29 countries as saying that the average satisfaction rate with the America has dropped from 22 percent in 2017 to less than 18 percent. Only 5% in Iceland, 6% in Germany, 10% in Switzerland, 14% in Denmark, 15% in the UK and 20% in Ireland approve of US leadership.
American leadership and the decline of hegemony
These polls and other similar polls published by reputable polling institutes in recent months are among the factors that signal a decline in US “hegemony.” But the key question is how is satisfaction with American leadership related to the decline of American hegemony?
In international political culture and literature, today, according to specific definitions, different levels of power are named, which are, respectively, hegemonic superpower, superpower, world great power, great regional power and …
In these definitions, a superpower is a country that can change and advance the military and political equations and challenges in the world in terms of capabilities and material power, so what is most effective in a country’s superpower is material and military power.
But a hegemonic superpower is a superpower that, in addition to material and military capabilities, can impose on others the values ​​it believes in – at least in appearance – and in fact impose its power on others with “satisfaction.”
In recent years, developments in Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, the issue of Iran’s nuclear program, etc. have shown new angles of the collapse of the US-dominated order. American hegemony, and consequently the Western world, has been based on three pillars: economic power, military power, and soft power. As we will see in this report, all three of these columns are collapsing.
The end of American economic domination
The inability of the United States to thwart China’s plans to establish its own Asian infrastructure investment bank is seen as a sign of the decline of US influence and the end of its hegemony. Former US President Barack Obama made many diplomatic efforts to prevent it after Beijing announced its plan to establish the bank. The New York Times reported at the time that Obama entered into diplomatic engagement with “unexpected determination” to persuade key allies to block Beijing’s move. But his efforts failed, or in other words, the United States could not bring its allies with it due to China’s growing power.
Decreased military dominance
Recently, Foreign Policy magazine also reduced the US Navy’s maneuverability in regional challenges, citing the weakening of this part of the US military as one of the reasons for the America avoiding any tension with Iran. Part of this report states: “Whatever the reason for Trump’s reluctance and indecision in responding to the attack on the Saudi oil facilities attributed to Iran, it is a fact that the United States is capable of exercising power in Iran. “The Persian Gulf, through offensive destroyers, is no longer what it was decades ago.”