No one across the elite circles of the past could have imagined Washington sinking this low — peeling away every pretense of dignity with a level of cynicism that shocks even its friends.
This year’s World Economic Forum in Davos — themed “The Spirit of Dialogue” — was supposed to be a marketplace of ideas. Instead, the United States hijacked it to promote its own hard-edged agenda, spouting talk of annexing Greenland and turning what was meant as dialogue into outright diatribe. President Trump rolled out yet another “TACO” deal (Trump Always Chickens Out), announcing a so-called “framework of a future deal” with NATO on the Greenland issue. Denmark will hand over sovereignty of a small tract for a US military base, sparing eight European countries new American tariffs. The catch? Trump relented not for diplomacy, but to dodge a market crash.
America Goes Off Script
Lutnick, the US Commerce Secretary, was no less blunt — and much louder.
At a private dinner on January 20 hosted by BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, who also served as interim co-chair of the forum, Lutnick broke every rule of discretion. He urged the world to double down on coal, not renewables, and openly derided Europe’s weakness, sneering that Europe’s competitiveness is far inferior to America’s.
The reaction was instant. Jeers filled the ballroom. Fink tried to calm the crowd, but as Lutnick’s tirade escalated, quite a number of guests stood up and left — including ECB chief Christine Lagarde and former US Vice President Al Gore, a long time climate crusader. One CEO described the dinner as tense, noisy, and explosive. So much for polite dialogue.
Davos as a Stage for Denial
That wasn’t his only outburst. Earlier that same day, Lutnick penned a fiery op-ed in the Financial Times, calling that “globalization has failed the West and the United States of America”. The US, he said, came to Davos “not to uphold the status quo, but to confront it head-on.” He praised Trump as having “chosen the right path,” and bragged, “With President Trump, capitalism has a new sheriff in town.”
Lutnick doubled down later in a panel with Canada’s François-Philippe Champagne and Britain’s Rachel Reeves, proclaiming that “globalisation has failed America and the West” — “The fact is it has left America behind. It has left the American workers behind.”
He went on to mock Europe’s green ambitions as “deciding to be subservient to China” and scoffed: “Why would Europe agree to be net zero in 2030 when they don’t make a battery? They don’t make a battery.”
America’s Mask Comes Off
If anything, US officials are finally saying out loud what they’ve always believed — America acts only when it benefits America.
For decades, Washington dressed its self-interest as values: climate leadership, democracy promotion, moral duty. But now, the mask has slipped. Even climate policy — once moralised as a “value” of green living — reveals its true colors. When the math no longer works for America, the values vanish too.
The truth is, America’s green talk was never about saving the planet — it was about selling an image. Now it mocks Europe for cutting emissions without owning battery plants, proving the point: emission cuts are noble only when they fit US interests. Those still clinging to America’s moral narrative aren’t loyal — they’re naïve.
The Losing Faith of Elites
The postwar world order — engineered by Washington in 1945 — functioned on two pillars: power and moral superiority. America rebuilt Europe through the Marshall Plan and led NATO against the Soviet Union. It was the self-proclaimed big brother of capitalism. But that brotherhood is gone.
Today, America behaves not as a leader but as a mob boss. It storms Venezuela, kidnaps its president, and threatens Europe with tariffs — all while demanding loyalty. As Columbia University’s Jeffrey Sachs put it, Trump’s policies mark America’s slide from hegemony to pure gangsterism.
Make no mistake: Washington now rules not by example but by force. It’s a world where might makes right — no more sugar coating. The US has ripped off the wrapping, leaving the rest of the world to confront an unbeautiful new reality. That reckoning might finally wake the dreamers.
Time for a Global Rethink
The key point is this: the ideologies Washington once peddled — from free markets to democracy — were never universal cures. They were tools of hegemony. Now, as the mask slips, nations are beginning to ask the same question: should we, like China, carve our own path instead of following America’s fading dream?
Lo Wing-hung
Bastille Commentary
** The blog article is the sole responsibility of the author and does not represent the position of our company. **
The US war against Iran has dragged on for over half a month. Trump has clearly miscalculated.
The US's greatest success came on February 28, the first day of the war, when it killed Iran's supreme leader Khamenei. But as the conflict unfolded, it has gradually shifted into a situation unfavorable for the US.
First, it failed to trigger regime change.
Trump was convinced Iran was just like Venezuela, riddled with internal fractures. After Venezuelan leader Maduro was captured by US invasion, interim president Rodríguez immediately reached an agreement with the US and restored diplomatic relations. Trump fully expected that after killing Khamenei, he could push Iran to install a pro-American regime. But Iran held firm and re-elected Khamenei's son Mojtaba as supreme leader.
Khamenei was actually a civilian by background and had served as Iran's president, whereas his son Mojtaba fought in the Iran-Iraq War in his youth, served in the elite volunteer corps of the Revolutionary Guards, and was subsequently viewed as a representative of the hardline pro-Revolutionary Guards faction within the regime—likely even more hardline than Khamenei. The US ended up pushing Iran to install an even more anti-American regime.
Second, the situation spiraled out of control.
Everyone expected the US-Iran conflict to mirror the 1991 Gulf War against Iraq, where the US deployed six aircraft carrier battle groups to saturate the Persian Gulf and Red Sea with attacks, systematically destroying Iraqi air defenses and counterattack capabilities before wrapping up the war quickly.
This time, however, played out entirely differently—the US performed poorly.
The USS Lincoln carrier battle group reportedly closed to within 346 kilometers of Iran before coming under attack. Iran fired four anti-ship missiles and four cruise missiles at the Lincoln. Iran claimed the carrier was damaged; the US denied it, but observers watched the Lincoln retreat steadily away from the Persian Gulf.
When the US deployed the USS Ford carrier battle group as backup, it too kept its distance from Iran. Iran declared that within its territorial waters and 700 kilometers of its coastline, not a single US warship remained—evidence, Iran argued, that the US feared Iranian missile strikes.
The damage extended further. Iran claimed it had destroyed four THAAD air defense systems at separate US military bases across the Middle East, plus one ground-based Pave Paws regional radar. Only eight THAAD systems exist globally—the only systems capable of intercepting missiles both inside and outside the atmosphere—and Iran eliminated four in one strike. Only seven Pave Paws regional radar systems exist worldwide; Iran took out one. The military achievement was staggering. The US urgently withdrew one THAAD system and Patriot missiles from South Korea to reinforce the Middle East.
US combat losses were unprecedented. Iran had never struck the US with this intensity before, exposing Trump's miscalculation: he believed Iran lacked the capability to retaliate effectively. Whether Iran had been holding back or simply unwilling to escalate further to preserve negotiating room remains unclear, but the US miscalculation proved costly.
Most US radar systems in the region were destroyed, leaving American forces essentially half-blind across the Middle East. US military bases in multiple countries now sat exposed to Iranian missile strikes. Israel continued absorbing heavy blows from Iran. After dismantling large swaths of US air defense radar, Iran announced it would no longer fire missiles under one ton—meaning it would deploy heavy missiles against US forces and Israel in the region, leaving the US in a severely weakened position.
Third, closing the Strait of Hormuz
Iran controls the throat of the Strait of Hormuz, through which 40% of the world's oil must pass. According to Lloyd's List data, only 77 vessels have transited the strait since March this year. In the same period last year, March 1 to 11, 1,229 vessels passed through. The Strait of Hormuz is approaching a de facto blockade. Oil prices have surged sharply, and Trump's approval ratings have plummeted. He's freaking out.
Trump's latest move is to drag China into the fray. In an interview with the Financial Times on Sunday, March 15, he demanded that countries join the United States in escorting vessels through the Strait of Hormuz. He said beneficiaries of the strait should help ensure nothing bad happens to it. Since 90% of China's oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz, he believes China should also provide assistance. He also suggested possibly delaying the planned end-of-month US-China summit with President Xi Jinping, hoping to know China's response before the meeting. Waiting two weeks until then would be too late.
Trump has now created a major crisis with Iran and cannot stop the conflict even if he wanted to. Even if the United States unilaterally ceases hostilities, it cannot guarantee that Iran will reopen the Strait of Hormuz and allow oil prices to fall rapidly. So while the US appears to want China to join in escorting vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, it may actually be asking China to play peacemaker and mediate the dispute between the US and Iran, allowing Trump to exit with dignity.
Trump is that pathetic character who creates trouble everywhere and then needs others to help clean up his mess.
Lo Wing-hung
