Trump Erodes U.S. Tradition of Global Leadership

… During the first half of the 20th century, the U.S. became the leader of the Western, democratic world. In the second half of that century, there was no real rival as leader of the free world. …

In less than a year, that tradition of global leadership has virtually evaporated. …

It isn’t just world leaders and foreign policy elites who see this change; a recent Pew Research Center survey of citizens in 37 countries around the world with at least 800 interviews in each found that in “the closing years of the Obama presidency, a median of 64 percent had a positive view of the U.S. Today, just 49 percent are favorably inclined toward America,” noting that “some of the steepest declines in U.S. image are found among long-standing allies.” CONT.

Charlie Cook