The US Can’t Lead the World If It Can’t Govern Itself
The biggest threat to American hegemony emanates not from Moscow or Beijing but from domestic polarization and dysfunction.
Dropping in at Hegemon HQ
Photographer: Alex Wong/Getty Images
Imagine for a moment that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy personifies the international community as it clings to the hope that the US stays firm in its role as leader of the liberal global order. Where did Zelenskiy — and by analogy the free world — go this week, and what did he see there?
Zelenskiy and the world first trekked to the annual gathering of the United Nations in New York, to seek reassurance that America will keep helping Ukraine to defend itself against Russia’s genocidal invasion. He then pilgrimaged to the White House in Washington, DC — “Hegemon HQ,” as I’ve called it — just to double-check.