US Vice President J.D. Vance recently tried to cast President Donald Trump’s strikes on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure as a wildly successful example of the “Trump Doctrine.” According to Vance, the doctrine is simple: you identify a problem that threatens US interests, which “you try to aggressively diplomatically solve.” If diplomacy fails, “you use overwhelming military power to solve it and then you get the hell out of there before it ever becomes a protracted conflict.”

China-U.S. competition is fueled by overall national strength. In addition to growing its own hard and soft power, it should pay attention to the evolving politics in the United States, as well as the changes in attitude by U.S. allies, and work to create a united front around the world.

Imperialist, exploitative and egocentric — these words describe U.S. policy on the Global South. The policy is deeply ingrained in Trump MAGA agenda, but it’s a loser in the long run.

The European establishment has ramped up its efforts to counter far-right forces, a move that will profoundly shape transatlantic relations in the Trump 2.0 era.

The Trump administration’s confused and misplaced understanding of its own national “interests” and “threats” will not only fail to help resolve the enormous domestic challenges facing the United States but will lead it further down the wrong track.

With U.S. encouragement, Northeast Asia has seen unprecedented cooperation between Japan and South Korea in recent years. But rising economic frictions, domestic political changes in Japan and especially South Korea, and evolving U.S. global priorities could impede or even reverse recent gains.

The extreme radicalism of the U.S. president’s thinking, coupled with the chaotic nature of his policies and their implementation, has significantly accelerated fragmentation and may even precipitate the collapse of the global governance structure.

Arbitrary policies introduced by the U.S. president have accelerated a shift of the international order and introduced new dynamics to relations between major powers. Most countries are reluctant to follow Trump’s lead because they have little to gain by doing so. Several are quietly thinking about ways to turn his disruptions into opportunity.

Since his return to the White House, Donald Trump has attempted to reduce the U.S. focus on Europe in order to shift resources to the Indo-Pacific. But geopolitical rivalry can neither resolve America’s own problems nor the challenges facing the world.

The Trump administration will continue to sway as it seeks new equilibrium amid stress-relieving turbulence. Historical patterns can be seen, but so can evolving realities. No one knows if America will find another escape route.