Apart from naming the impact leaders have on us, with "land of the free" and "beacon of democracy" becoming past stations, I think important general factor in people's evaluation is that the VS no longer has the "democracy vs. dictatorship" advantage on China.
allears · 15h ago
It's called soft power, and the US is throwing theirs away while China amasses more and more.
taylodl · 15h ago
Honor also plays a part. The US has broken several treaties, claiming they're no longer valid because the current administration doesn't like the people who negotiated those treaties. That makes the US undependable, unreliable. Why negotiate a trade treaty with the US in good faith when the US will ignore that treaty whenever they see fit? That's dishonorable and there's no point in negotiating with dishonorable people.
To your point, that dishonor throws away all of the US soft power.
Honestly, at this point I trust Xi to follow through on his promises more than I do Trump - and that's sad.
quantified · 14h ago
Considering the nature of Trump's promises, probably still a good thing.
To your point, that dishonor throws away all of the US soft power.
Honestly, at this point I trust Xi to follow through on his promises more than I do Trump - and that's sad.