How Trump’s revolution is reshaping the global order — and why it may be hard to reverse

How Trump’s revolution is reshaping the global order

In just 100 days, US President Donald Trump has achieved something many once deemed unthinkable: a significant dismantling of the global economic and political order that the United States itself helped create after World War II. Through aggressive tariffs, scuttled treaties, attacks on traditional alliances, and internal institutional upheaval, Trump has accelerated a transformation whose effects may be difficult to undo — even if future American leaders attempt to do so, the New York Times reported.

While Trump’s time in office is constitutionally limited, the damage to trust, alliances, and global leadership could be far more enduring. As Ian Goldin, a professor of globalisation and development at Oxford University, put it, "The MAGA base and JD Vance will still be around long after Trump’s gone," meaning the forces that propelled Trump's rise are likely to persist — inequality, economic insecurity, and populist nationalism.

Allies move on without America

Faced with Trump’s unpredictability and disdain for multilateralism, US allies are hedging their bets. The European Union and South American countries have established one of the world’s largest trade zones, while Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney has proposed new transportation networks to connect global markets beyond the US Canada is also moving toward participating in Europe’s defence buildup, reducing its reliance on American security guarantees.

Britain and the European Union, too, are working on finalising a joint defence pact, signalling a fundamental recalibration of transatlantic relations.

“The world moves on,” said Goldin. As global supply chains reconfigure and foreign talent looks beyond America for opportunity, the idea that the US can easily restore its pre-Trump economic dominance is increasingly seen as unrealistic.

China seizes the opportunity

The Trump administration’s hostility toward traditional allies and international institutions has given China a significant opening. As Orville Schell of the Asia Society noted, Trump is creating "immense moments of opportunity for Xi Jinping and China." Beijing is positioning itself as a champion of free trade and global leadership — a stark contrast to Washington's protectionist turn.

China’s efforts are particularly resonating in emerging economies across Africa, Latin America, and Asia. Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative continues to expand its influence, filling vacuums left by a retreating United States. Meanwhile, Trump’s gutting of US foreign aid programmes and diplomatic missions in Africa has accelerated China's consolidation of economic and political influence on the continent.

China’s steadiness amid US turmoil, according to Jonathan Czin of the Brookings Institution, enhances its appeal as a stable and dependable partner.

Undermining America’s scientific edge

Trump’s revolution is also eroding America’s internal capacities. The administration’s deep cuts to scientific research, university grants, environmental programs, and cybersecurity efforts are hollowing out the networks of expertise that underpinned US technological and economic leadership.

The federal government traditionally funded around 40% of the country’s basic scientific research, but now thousands of scientists, researchers, and cybersecurity experts have been laid off. As Antony Hopkins, a historian at Cambridge University, warned, undermining America’s internal institutions risks not just diminishing its domestic innovation but weakening its geopolitical clout.

If US institutions lose their competitive edge and brain drain accelerates, future leaders may find they cannot simply rebuild what has been dismantled.

A deeper structural shift

The historical record suggests that stress on international systems doesn’t always result in collapse. The Nixon Shock of 1971, when President Richard Nixon severed the dollar from gold and disrupted global markets, caused chaos but ultimately did not topple the US-led economic system. Alliances held, negotiations continued, and America's leadership endured.

But this time could be different.

The deep wellsprings of discontent that Trump tapped into — economic dislocation, political polarisation, distrust of globalisation — have changed the political landscape fundamentally. As David Ekbladh of Tufts University noted, the crucial question is whether there is sufficient support among Americans to restore the old system. "Do the American people want this to go away?" he asked.

The answer is far from clear. Trump’s brand of nationalism has deep roots now, and even after Trump himself leaves office, the pressures reshaping America’s role in the world will remain.

A revolution that may not be reversible

As Orville Schell observed, Trump’s movement is "dedicated to destroying not only policies but institutions." If enough of those institutions — whether in diplomacy, science, or economic leadership — are dismantled, simply electing a different president may not be enough to restore America's previous role.

The global order, painstakingly built over decades, depends on trust, cooperation, and credibility — resources that, once depleted, are extraordinarily difficult to replenish.

The world, sensing the shift, is already moving on.