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The Real Story: The Great Disruptor

Factual

The Great Disruptor

15/06/2018 GMT

BBC World Service - The Real Story, The Great Disruptor

Has Donald Trump decided to sacrifice the West in order to put America first?

Has Donald Trump decided to sacrifice the Western alliance and the rules based international order in order to win short term trade concessions and put America first?

What is Donald Trump thinking? In one week he calls Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ‘dishonest and weak’ and then proceeds to boast of his ‘terrific relationship’ with the dictator Kim Jong-Un. In just a few days, he riles America’s closest allies at the G7 summit and then signs a nuclear deal with the country considered one of the biggest threats to international security. The president’s critics say he is tearing up the rule book without considering the consequences. His supporters say a new approach to international diplomacy is long overdue. So which is it?  Has President Trump decided to abandon the military and political alliances that structured the post-World War II liberal order – or is he simply reminding old allies not to take the United States for granted? Is ‘the West’ dead – or is the alliance mutating into one where the US has more space to put itself ‘first’. On the Real Story this week, Ritula Shah and a panel of guests considers how we have arrived at this great disruption of the international order – and where the world is heading.

(Photo credit: Reuters)

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