American Retreat

CNN anchor, Chief National Security Analyst, and author of New York Times bestseller The Return of Great Powers Jim Sciutto takes readers to the many fronts of America's new relationships with the world, and the sweeping consequences of Donald Trump's presidency.

Picking up a powerful, deeply relevant thread from The Return of Great Powers, Sciutto asks and answers a series of pressing questions about this emerging post-American century - considering what this change will bring both domestically and abroad, and what it will mean for American standing going forward.

The re-election of Donald Trump redefined and reoriented America's role in the world. For nearly a century, the US had negotiated, built, defended and - by design - led a network of defense alliances, trade agreements, and international organizations intended to advance democracy and, together, serve American economic and national security interests. Since he took office, Trump has dismantled the post-World War Two rule-based international order more quickly and definitively than many believed possible, and with enormous consequences across the globe.

As a result, we're seeing predictable reactions to the removal of America's security umbrella across the world, as American action makes clear that a country's defense is now either principally or entirely its own.