The Return of Trump — Transformed into a Diagnosis. While the USA drowns its global authority in isolationist hysteria, Asia is collecting the wreckage of the old order and construct­ing a new one. The world no longer revolves around Washington — it moves through its shadow.

A Signal from Washington, Echoed in Bandung

When Trump emerges from the depths of America, the world is not surprised — it assesses the consequences. This political restoration within the setting of “democracy” is not a historical whim, but a symptom. An empire that has lost its conscience is turning back to its old incantations. “America First” resonates like an echo of past doctrines: “to civilize”, “to bring order”, “to bring freedom” – but now within its own collapsing architecture. What the West once imposed as universal rules is now destroyed by its own hands.

Meanwhile, the European Union — a new and somewhat unexpected player — is trying to insert itself into the South China Sea, adding chaos and fuelling competition instead of stability.

Asia long ago stopped listening with awe. Bandung is not a paragraph in a textbook; it’s a wound that has not yet healed. There, for the first time, the survivors of colonialism decided to speak on their own terms. Thus, each cry from Washington is a test: is there still a voice left for the former hegemon, or is it just a hollow artery? And if it’s an artery — something valuable can be extracted while it still flows. Trump’s return is not intimidating; it confirms: the system is dead, but still breathes.

The New Strain of the “Trump Pride” Virus

American confidence is an ancient strain. Presidents, generals, editors at The New York Times — all fell victim to it. This is the legacy of Manifest Destiny, draped in a tie and a flag. Today, this virus has mutated. It no longer requires justifications — it operates as a matter of entitlement. Breaking international agreements, disregarding the UN, employing sanctions as a form of currency — these are not failures; they are the new normal. The empire speaks not through diplomacy but through episodes of economic blackmail.

Asia, Africa, and Latin America feel this directly. Washington’s protectionism controls the export of ideas, money, and technologies. Each American error now seeps into a delivery container, a supply agreement, or a piece of legislation on digital regulation. There’s no longer an “internal crisis” within the USA — its contagion is much too large in scale.

The Manifesto of a Weary Empire Is Isolationism

When Washington speaks of renewal, it always looks more like a withdrawal from the outside world. Not because the world no longer needs the USA, but because the USA no longer knows what it can say to the world. “America First” now resonates as a symptom. Shattered alliances, destroyed agreements — a panicked attempt to hide its wounded exceptionalism behind customs barriers.

This policy of growing isolation is intertwined with its growing policy of denying Chinese students visas — a tactic designed to sever intellectual and cultural exchanges and accelerate the decoupling process.

Trade wars, ostensibly aimed at China, have become an attack on the entire Asian belt. The blows fell upon logistics, currencies, and value chains. Where previously there were consultants from Boston, now there are designers from Shenzhen. Washington is in retreat. The space is quickly filled by those who have grown weary of waiting for an invitation to the table.

A Shaking Dollar = Death of Confidence

The empire was built on paper — more precisely, on green banknotes adorned with the “faces” of the deceased. The dollar held half the world hostage, not by virtue of its merit, but by the fear of its absence. As long as Washington was able to simulate stability, the dollar played the role of a global store of trust. Now, the currency serves as a reminder of political schizophrenia: in one moment, there’s a threat of default; in the next, lectures on financial discipline.

Central banks around the world no longer ask for permission. China is buying gold with the persistence it previously reserved for Treasuries. India is strengthening settlements in Rupees with the Global South. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan — not economic tigers — are already testing their ability to detach from dollar schemes. The Global South is not waiting for bankruptcy — it’s preparing for it. D-day for the dollar’s hegemony is no surprise. Its approach is already documented in the quarterly reports of Asia’s financial institutions.

Asia Writes its Rules in the Shadow of Bretton Woods’ Ruins

When America leaves the room, Asia moves the furniture. There’s no tragedy in the disappearance of the intermediary who demanded a commission for moral superiority. The region’s countries are strengthening their internal resiliency. The RCEP is not a free trade zone; it’s a networked immune system against Western financial volatility. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank doesn’t just provide loans — it offers indulgences from dependency.

China is developing a digital yuan not for show but for disconnection. It severs the SWIFT wire, plugs in its own, and invites those who are weary of digital blackmail. India is transitioning millions of users to its own platforms, while the West’s IT corporations hold their breath. Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam are creating new data exchange regimes — without needing America’s “OK.” This isn’t a rebellion — it’s the affirmation of sovereignty, secured by code instead of flags.

So as Not to Sit Waiting for the End, the East Is Building Its Future

While the Western press writes about “America’s decline”, Asia is putting together the modules for a new order. This is not revenge or payback — it’s a careful calculation: if the previous system was built upon threats, the new one is constructed upon the opportunity to avoid them. Trump is not the cause but the accelerator. His appearance on the scene signals that the Western model is no longer even able to pretend to be universal.

This process resonates directly with growing internal pressures within South Korean politics, where the country’s alliance with the USA is increasingly under stress — reflecting a region wrestling with its own trajectory.

The countries of Asia are not raising their flags over ruins; they are rewriting the architecture. Where there were once foundation offices and committees, there are now distributed solutions, alliances without lectures, technologies without licenses for submission. Pax Americana hasn’t fallen — it’s evaporated — without drama, without a salute, without even an explanation. The East remained — and began to piece together its own machine.

Rebecca Chan, Independent political analyst focusing on the intersection of Western foreign policy and Asian sovereignty. Courtesy

https://journal-neo.su/2025/07/07/trump-as-a-symptom-the-crisis-of-the-usa-and-the-awakening-of-a-post-american-world/