Donald Trump’s effort to seize control of Ukraine’s natural resources represents a grim indication of the waning influence of the United States. Although it might seem paradoxical, demanding half of the total revenues—not just the profits—generated from Ukraine’s extensive minerals, oil, gas, and infrastructure, valued at an astonishing £400bn, can be perceived as the behavior of a bully characterized by arrogance and might. This action has justly been characterized as reducing Ukraine to the status of an economic dependency of the US.
Yet, it symbolizes the outright abandonment of one of the three foundational pillars of US dominance. The first was military dominance, which was shattered by the disasters in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya, linking the US military to atrocities, violent unrest, and humiliating defeats. The ongoing proxy conflict in Ukraine can now be added to that dismal roster. The second pillar was economic dominance, which persists, albeit significantly weakened by the 2008 financial crisis and the enduring failure of the American model to achieve sustained growth in real wages. The third pillar—now being recklessly dismantled by Trump—was moral authority. Although it was always somewhat fictitious, it played a crucial role in justifying US hegemony. That justification has now turned to dust.
Historically, the US has portrayed itself as a bastion of freedom, contrasting itself with the tyrannies of the Old World, even while it enslaved 89% of its Black population just two generations ago. When the US engaged in European-style colonialism following the Spanish-American War by annexing the Philippines, a faction of the American elite established the American Anti-Imperialist League, cautioning that the US government aimed to “extinguish the spirit of 1776” and transform “the republic into an empire”.
This proved to be an anomaly, and the US turned to more indirect means of control. When President Woodrow Wilson led the country into World War I on the side of the Allies in 1917, he condemned imperial Germany for forsaking the “humane practices of civilized nations” through its indiscriminate submarine warfare. “The world must be made safe for democracy,” he asserted, concluding that “A steadfast concert for peace can never be maintained except by a partnership of democratic nations.”
Similarly, when President Franklin Roosevelt entered World War II, he spoke grandly of “democracy’s struggle against global conquest”. At the beginning of the Cold War, President Harry Truman warned that the global populace “may yield to the false security enticingly offered by totalitarian regimes unless we can demonstrate democracy’s superiority”. Notably, the US and the Soviet Union framed their grand conflict—albeit misleadingly—as a confrontation of two universal philosophies promising liberation for all humanity: “freedom and democracy” on one side, and the abolition of capitalism and colonialism in favor of equality on the other.
Ronald Reagan, a right-wing Republican, nonetheless asserted that the US engaged in wars “to defend freedom and democracy,” characterizing it as “a force for peace, not conquest” and stating that “we could have achieved world domination, but that was contrary to the character of our people”.
Indeed, much of this was rooted in deceit. Assertions of democracy were fundamentally compromised by the long-standing restrictions placed on the rights of African Americans in the South, who had to struggle tirelessly to win their rights. Internationally, the US bore responsibility for countless atrocities. Throughout the 1960s and 70s, the US intervened to prop up the brutal military dictatorship in South Vietnam and conducted carpet-bombing campaigns in Southeast Asia. In Cambodia, US bombing campaigns may have resulted in up to 500,000 civilian deaths; one such operation was codenamed Operation Freedom Deal, emphasizing the Orwellian manipulation of language employed to justify ruthless domination.
In Latin America, the US played a role in instigating horrifying military coups—“I don’t see why we need to stand by and watch a country go communist due to the irresponsibility of its own people,” remarked Henry Kissinger regarding Chile—and supported brutal dictatorships, including the Argentine junta.
In the Middle East, the alliance with Saudi despots and the arming of Saddam Hussein, followed by the disastrous invasion of Iraq, highlighted the US’s cynicism, while its unwavering support for Israel’s subjugation of the Palestinians showcased its hypocrisy. This pattern continued with the US facilitating genocide, burying its moral claims beneath the rubble. Trump’s overt endorsement of ethnic cleansing in Gaza, his brazen suggestion that the US should claim the land for its own avaricious purposes, and his apparent desire to annex Canada reflect unabashed brute force and greed, devoid of any noble moral cause.
This poses a dilemma for the Western right. Recently, there was a right-wing gathering in East London, grandly titled the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship. The Daily Mail, with its typical restraint, summarized the speech of Tory leader Kemi Badenoch by stating: “It’s time to get off our knees and start fighting for Western values.” What precisely are those “values” now that the leading Western nation—led by someone Badenoch views as a political ally—has abandoned its previous pretenses?
The US no longer feels the need to disguise its ruthless self-interest under the guise of lofty principles. This represents a significant strategic blunder. These fabricated moral claims once helped garner consent or at least complacency from the American public for global power projection; Hollywood’s portrayal of the US as the “good guys” resonates with a self-perception that remains significant for many Americans. These claims also attracted numerous potential allies for the US across all continents.
That facade is now gone. What remains is a floundering superpower with diminished military capabilities, a crumbling economic framework, a democracy in crisis, and an openly brutal demeanor. The decline of US power is far from dignified.
