A different path

Cartoon by Xin Gang

At a recent White House press briefing, US President Donald Trump announced the creation of a so called "Board of Peace" under his leadership, with a price tag of $1 billion for permanent membership. Ironically, almost simultaneously, Trump ordered the United States to withdraw from 66 international organizations and formally confirmed its exit from the World Health Organization.

By turning diplomacy into a pure transaction where nothing comes without a price, Trump is pushing US foreign policy further toward open mercantilism. The result is not strength, but growing isolation, as the United States drifts ever deeper into the swamp of unilateralism and stands increasingly at odds with the rest of the world.