Asia, Africa & Latin America are not waiting around to see what happens with Trump

It is truly incredible to see how fast the geopolitical ground is shifting out here in Asia over just the past few months. The election of Donald Trump exacerbated a trend that had been well-underway for months as faith began to fade that the US would follow through with TPP. Now with TPP dead, it is fascinating to see not just Asian shift away from Washington and towards Beijing but also in Latin America where there is a sense that if the US does not want to lead then they will follow someone who does.

For those of you who opposed TPP, I completely understand your concerns. However you have to be aware of the consequences that will now unfold. China's alternative to TPP, known as RCEP, will have no labor rights, no intellectual property measures, no environmental conditions... nothing other than raw free trade regardless of the consequences for workers and the environment. For Vietnam and other SE Asian countries, this was a binary choice between the US and China and now China has prevailed.

"Politically, walking away from the deal is almost cost-free for Americans. Economically, the United States was projected to gain only slightly in growth and jobs as a result of the deal, as was Canada. On the other hand, the people of Japan and Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam and Malaysia were gambling their futures on it: The TPP promised to improve the lives of hundreds of millions of people in the eastern hemisphere by clearing a tariff-clogged pathway between the world’s largest economies. Without it, they are solely dependent on China." -- Globe and Mail Columnist Doug Saunders

I know a lot of people are saying "give Trump time, just give him a chance," but what I don't think these people understand is that time in not on Trump's or the US' side. The Chinese are moving very quickly and Asian/African/Latin American countries are not waiting around to see what happens. They are taking bold, dramatic policy gambles now on the assumption that the US will not be as engaged internationally as it has been over the past 50+ years.

My personal opinion is that we are witnessing the true of end of America's supremacy as the indispensable superpower. This does not mean that the US will not remain a powerful country, it will, but it is going to have to compete and work much harder than it is accustomed to if it wants to retain its preeminence. To me, America feels tired, confused and more focused on destroying itself from within rather than focusing on how it can be the leader that the rest of the world so desperately wants and needs the US to be.

My pessimistic outlook of the United States is widely-held by those outside looking in on the circus that is American politics. Take this opinion column in Canada's Globe and Mail as a sample of what a lot of people outside of the United States are thinking now: https://tgam.ca/2grF5Tf