Always beware a declining superpower: Even under normal leadership, a status-anxious US would be lashing out
https://www.ft.com/content/014e85ce-b703-4ed8-8183-e6e5d1061974
Janan Ganesh:
Always beware the downwardly mobile. Those of us who live a better life than we were born into cannot begin to understand the trauma of going in the opposite direction. A small drop in status can unhinge people, even if their absolute position remains good. It was the Weimar middle class, inflated out of their savings during the slump, who turned to the National Socialists in elections, not necessarily the worst-off. In geopolitics, the same process plays out on the largest scale. What is Russia’s war in Ukraine if not a protest at its reduced status since the Soviet collapse?
Trump’s Threats to Allies Stir Worry That U.S. Has Lost Its Way
https://www.wsj.com/world/europe/trumps-threats-to-allies-stir-worry-that-u-s-has-lost-its-way-6bc05fcb
New tariffs, insults and threats of invasion trigger a backlash ahead of the president’s visit to Davos.
https://www.ft.com/content/014e85ce-b703-4ed8-8183-e6e5d1061974
Janan Ganesh:
Always beware the downwardly mobile. Those of us who live a better life than we were born into cannot begin to understand the trauma of going in the opposite direction. A small drop in status can unhinge people, even if their absolute position remains good. It was the Weimar middle class, inflated out of their savings during the slump, who turned to the National Socialists in elections, not necessarily the worst-off. In geopolitics, the same process plays out on the largest scale. What is Russia’s war in Ukraine if not a protest at its reduced status since the Soviet collapse?
Trump’s Threats to Allies Stir Worry That U.S. Has Lost Its Way
https://www.wsj.com/world/europe/trumps-threats-to-allies-stir-worry-that-u-s-has-lost-its-way-6bc05fcb
New tariffs, insults and threats of invasion trigger a backlash ahead of the president’s visit to Davos.
Greenland Clash Risks Undermining America’s Place in World Economic Order
https://www.wsj.com/economy/global/united-states-investment-trade-08e76e85
The U.S. has long been a beacon of safety when uncertainty reigns. That is changing.
https://www.wsj.com/economy/global/united-states-investment-trade-08e76e85
The U.S. has long been a beacon of safety when uncertainty reigns. That is changing.
China Wins as Trump Cedes Leadership of the Global
Economy
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/22/business/davos-trump-xi-china.html
The president used a keynote speech at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland to renounce the last vestiges of the liberal democratic order.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/22/business/davos-trump-xi-china.html
The president used a keynote speech at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland to renounce the last vestiges of the liberal democratic order.