In theory, the strategy is brilliantโit assumes an easily shaken opponent. But Trump insisted on playing it on a board that no longer exists. While the U.S. struggles with mediocre growth (2%โ2.5% annually since 2017), China moves forward at 5%โ6% despite absurd 145% tariffs. The dollar, once the ultimate weapon, is losing ground to Chinaโs CIPS (Cross-Border Interbank Payment System)โwhich cuts international transactions from days to minutesโand to the ๐๐๐๐๐ common currency. U.S. big tech firms, once pillars of its economic dominance, are bleeding billions in market value:
- ๐๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ข๐ (๐๐๐๐): โ$589 billion
- ๐๐ข๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฌ๐จ๐๐ญ (๐๐๐ ๐): โ$71 billion
- ๐๐ฅ๐ฉ๐ก๐๐๐๐ญ (๐๐๐๐๐): โ$101 billion
- ๐๐๐ฌ๐ฅ๐ (๐๐๐๐): โ$30 billion (Source: Elos Avta Consulting, Jan/2025)
๐๐๐๐๐คโ๐๐๐, ๐๐๐ข๐๐ ๐๐๐ โ๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ก ๐๐ก ๐ข๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐๐ก๐๐๐ , ๐กโ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐น๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฃ๐, ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ข๐ : ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐.
The Washington Consensusโwhich in the 1990s sold democracy in exchange for economic dependenceโis now a museum piece. China not only resists sanctions but laughs at them, while the U.S. watches its own industry wither. ๐๐๐๐ ๐, the financial messaging system that once underpinned Western dominance, is now challenged by faster, politically immune Chinese infrastructure.
Trump, in his caricature as a geopolitical cowboy, seems stuck in time. His brinkmanship no longer scares Beijing, doesnโt persuade the ๐๐๐๐๐, and certainly doesnโt stop Americaโs relative decline. So the question remains: what cards does Washington still hold? Nuclear threats sound more like the outcry of an empire that no longer writes the rules.
Trumpโs brinkmanship is like a poker player who keeps betting bigโexcept everyone already knows his deck is rigged. While China pushes forward with ๐๐๐๐ and consolidates the Belt and Road Initiative (despite Western pushback), the U.S. wastes its energy chasing imaginary enemies. ๐ถ๐ผ๐๐๐โ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ข๐๐ก? ๐ด ๐๐๐ข๐๐ก๐๐ฆ ๐กโ๐๐ก, ๐๐๐กโ๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐ ๐๐๐ก๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐, ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ก ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐โ.
The lesson is clear: 20th-century strategies wonโt solve 21st-century crises. And Trump, in his obsession with winning, may have accelerated the very outcome he feared mostโthe end of American hegemony.
