Simon Kuper’s thought-provoking article makes an important point, that Trump senses the US can go it alone, and – according to Kuper – correctly so. But he vastly overstates the case. US security interests do not start and stop at the border. It is still the world’s largest importer and foreign investor and isfar more dependent on both channels of exchange than it was in 1945. According to a 2022 Business Roundtable report, 41 million US jobs depended on trade in 2019. US sea lanes,which are theworld’s, mustremain open. US dominance in high-tech sectors promises growth onworld markets as far as the eye can see. And the fact that it is unthinkable for its enemies to invade the mainland – for example, to stage an attack across the Bering Strait and through Canada, or to recruit Cuba or Mexico as a forward base – is surely related to America’s military might and itsremarkable capacity to build and (so far) sustain alliances. Uri Dadush, School of Public Policy, University of Maryland, US
School Authors: Uri Dadush