Thread by @RoryStewartUK

Was it for this that the US spent 80 years building power and alliances? Not to be a force for good. But instead to impoverish neighbours, threaten those it protected, rob minerals from war-torn countries, and break its promises to 100s of millions of the poorest in the world? 🧵

The post-World War II order was not just about U.S. power; it was about alliances, credibility, and leadership:

•Bretton Woods underpinned global development.
•The Marshall Plan rebuilt Europe, not looted it.
•NATO was created to defend allies, not threaten them.

If the U.S. turns toward isolationism, transactional extortion, and great-power cynicism, it would mean that the legacy of 80 years of alliance-building was not about deterrence, order, and stability—but about coercion, opportunism, and betrayal

It would signal that U.S. commitments mean nothing—whether to NATO, Taiwan, or vulnerable nations in Africa and Asia.
•It would embolden adversaries—Russia, China, Iran—
•It would leave allies scrambling—forcing Europe, Japan, and others to seek separate deals with rivals

The real tragedy would not just be Ukraine’s fate—though that would be horrific. It would be the confirmation that the 80 years of peace based on development, alliances and mutual security had been deliberately and viciously ended.

If Trump’s vision is one where strength is wielded without principle, alliances are transactional, and power serves only itself, then the U.S. is not just withdrawing from the world—it is undermining the very rationale for its own global power.