The global order is entering a phase of profound instability as the United States and China drift away from traditional roles of international stewardship, opting instead for a framework of competition that leaves a dangerous vacuum in global leadership.
The United States under the Trump administration is actively dismantling parts of the international order it spent decades building, viewing it as a constraint on American dealmaking.
As Brent crude prices surged above $90 a barrel following the latest exchanges between the U.S. and Iran, the economic ripples reached the Port of Seattle and the Port of Tacoma.
This internal "hollowing out" serves as a domestic domestic parallel to the global leadership vacuum, as the experts and systems designed to manage complex international relations are replaced by a more fragmented and ideologically driven workforce.
However, China’s refusal to fully step into the vacuum means the world is currently without a functional "lender of last resort" for security or economic stability.
The Trump administration embraces a multipolar world while military escalation in Iran and domestic housing costs reshape global and local stability.