As #Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States of America the world’s leaders were watching with particular attention. Few of them have met him personally and these meetings were not political, but commercial in nature. As a result none of those watching the inauguration in any of the world’s capitals know what the next four years will bring for their countries.
There will be foreign opponents that will try to provoke him and North Korea has already stated it will do so, as ISIS surely will. Then there will be America’s traditional international opponents such as Russia and China who will act in more covert ways to test the mettle of the new President.
Finally there will be America’s traditional allies who will wonder whether or not they will have to abandon decades of foreign policy decisions on the coat tails of the world’s largest superpower.
What to expect
At the present time there are no answers to give. The relevant Secretaries, beginning with that of State have yet to be confirmed in their roles and many other cabinet and administration positions are yet to be filled. Furthermore, the allegations of interference by Russia in the presidential campaign have the potential of affecting America’s reputation and prestige in the future and only the American intelligence services will be able to resolve this uncomfortable situation.
America’s population and the world’s leaders can only wait for developments, beginning with Donald Trump’s first decisions as President and his first encounters with the other world leaders. Until these meetings occur the world as a whole is in for interesting times. Only time will tell if these will be in the Chinese sense, on in another fashion.
