Trump's Zero-Sum Perspective Challenges Postwar Global Order

President Donald Trump appears to embrace a worldview characterized by an underlying belief that international relationships are a zero-sum game, meaning one side must lose when another side wins. According to this perspective, international interactions involve a clear winner who benefits the most and a loser who bears the brunt of the costs.

At first glance, Trump's perspective might seem only a stylistic difference in negotiation or diplomatic approach. However, it represents a substantial departure from the principles that helped shape global cooperation and progress since World War II.

For decades, global stability and growth were rooted in the belief that countries could all benefit from mutual engagement. Known as a "positive-sum" approach, this framework views the world as a web of interconnected systems designed to ensure prosperity, even if gains and burdens are shared unevenly.

Indeed, institutions based on this positive-sum concept, like international trade agreements, alliances, and rule-based international laws, have historically contributed significantly to global peace and economic expansion. Crucially, this concept is also integral to sustaining and promoting democratic governance worldwide.

In challenging this fundamental approach of global interaction, Trump's zero-sum perspective introduces uncertainty and potential instability into existing international relations and structures.