The “America First” policy has led to an isolationist’s paradox: in putting itself first, America may have left itself alone. This was starkly illustrated at the SCO summit, where the leaders of India, China, and Russia formed a powerful bloc, a development a US commentator warned is a sign of a “new world order.”
This new reality was not lost on analyst Van Jones, who called the meeting a “historically big deal.” The sight of Narendra Modi, Xi Jinping, and Vladimir Putin demonstrating such unity, he argued, should be a chilling wake-up call for a nation that is increasingly finding itself on the outside looking in.
The administration’s focus on tariffs and trade disputes is seen as the primary driver of this trend. By alienating traditional partners and antagonizing rivals, the US has created a vacuum that this new Eurasian triumvirate is more than willing to fill. Their message is clear: the world will move on, with or without America.
Jones explained the perilous outcome using a simple analogy: the US is now on the “bad side of the triangle.” This means that instead of being a key player balancing other powers, it is the isolated party facing a united opposition. “It’s everybody against us,” he stated, a situation that is “not good for America.”
