Trump's 'America first' policy offers Beijing and Brussels a chance to lead | Barry Eichengreen

China and the EU are filling the void led by Washington's return to isolationism. Collective leadership is the only way forward

Donald Trump's "America first" policies are widely regarded as an abdication of global leadership, sounding the death knell of the post-second world war multilateral order that the US shaped and sustained.

There is much truth to this view. At the same time, this troubling turn represents a reversion to longstanding US values. Acknowledging that the second half of the 20th century was an anomaly, rather than the norm, raises troubling questions about the nature of US leadership and the fate of multilateralism after Trump.

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