America Has Become the World's Biggest Rogue State—The “Invisible Asset” a Superpower Is Losing

Watching America’s actions over Ukraine, I can no longer tell whose side it is on.

Russia was supposed to be the aggressor, yet Ukraine is somehow the country being pressed to accept a ceasefire and territorial concessions. America uses the possibility of ending military aid as leverage and sometimes appears to take a harsher stance toward Ukraine than toward Russia.

Apparently, what matters to America is neither Ukrainian sovereignty nor the international order, but simply ending the war.

If the war ends, the burden of providing support will decrease. The negative effect on energy prices can also be contained.

If we consider only America’s national interest, perhaps that is rational.

But does that not make it the world’s biggest rogue state?

How Is That Different from China?

Until now, America has regarded itself as the global leader defending freedom and democracy.

But when its own interests are involved, those admirable principles are quickly pushed aside.

A major power decides the fate of a smaller country according to its own convenience.

How is that different from China’s hegemonic behavior?

Of course, few countries can openly confront America, with its unmatched military and economic power.

Some countries may smile and shake hands in public while privately wondering, “Can we really trust this country?”

I have also heard Americans living in Japan express shame about their country’s current behavior.

“I do not want people to think I am a citizen of a country like this.”

I have seen a video expressing that sentiment as well.

Supporters of America First, meanwhile, may not care in the slightest what foreign countries think.

As long as America benefits, that is enough.

It is certainly an easy position to understand.

The Greatest Asset America Is Destroying by Itself

But there is a major trap here.

America’s strength does not come only from its military and economic power.

It also possesses an enormous asset built over many years: the trust of its allies.

Japan and Europe have believed that America would help them in a crisis. That belief is what makes an American-centered security system possible.

But America’s current posture toward Ukraine naturally raises doubts.

If Japan came into conflict with China, would America really help?

Or would it side with China, strike some convenient deal, and pressure Japan to make concessions?

A question that once would never have occurred to me has now become a realistic concern.

Trust is a difficult kind of asset.

It takes decades to build and can disappear in an instant.

Unlike warships or fighter jets, it does not appear on a balance sheet.

That makes it difficult even for the country losing it to notice.

A Superpower Chasing Short-Term Gains

Watching the Trump administration’s foreign policy, I get the impression that it views everything as a business transaction.

How much will you pay? What will you offer? What does America gain?

I can understand the logic itself.

But even in business, losing trust is fatal.

If you repeatedly betray your business partners for short-term gains, eventually no one will want a serious relationship with you.

The same is probably true of relations between countries.

As long as America remains powerful, other countries will comply in public.

Behind the scenes, however, they will begin searching for ways to avoid depending on America.

Even in Japan, people are beginning to ask whether the US-Japan alliance, long taken for granted, should really continue as it is.

Is that not evidence that America is dismantling with its own hands the international position it spent decades building?

Military power can force others to comply.

But trust cannot be recovered by force.

America is currently the world’s most powerful country, yet it appears to be squandering at tremendous speed the most important asset that has supported that power.

The Day the World Stops Sympathizing

If America pursues America First to its logical conclusion, countries around the world will begin thinking, “We should keep our distance from America.”

When the September 11 attacks occurred, people around the world sympathized with America and expressed solidarity.

But if America continues behaving as it does now, the world’s response may be very different if a similar tragedy ever occurs again.

Television may mourn the victims, but the internet will predictably overflow with videos saying, “You brought this on yourself” and “Serves you right.”

For a superpower, the truly frightening thing is not gaining more enemies. It is reaching the day when no one sympathizes with it after it becomes the victim.