Maps provide not only information on the geographical features but also the vision of the government on the issues of power, sovereignty, and national identity. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on August 27, 2026, which renamed Lake Ontario to “Lake America.” It is not possible for this executive order to change the borderline in the lake or to convince the Canadian government to rename the lake. Nevertheless, this event is of great political importance. Being the example after renaming the Gulf of Mexico to “Gulf of America” in 2025, it shows how geography could be used as another means to apply the “America First” policy.

A Shared Pattern, Different Systems

This does not mean that this case is an end to the international system based on rules. This is quite the contrary since this case is just one example of the trends prevalent across many nations in the world. National sovereignty, historical identity, and national greatness are becoming more important than any international limitation in case they conflict with each other.

According to Michael Kimmage in Foreign Affairs, a similar change from “universalistic internationalism” to strong leadership and great nations and civilizations’ politics takes place in international affairs. Yet, Putin, Xi Jinping, Modi, and Trump are different leaders. While Putin is an authoritarian leader, Xi Jinping is at the head of the single-party system, Modi is ruling a competitive and increasingly majoritarian democracy, and Trump is working in an institutional context of elections and a constitution. They are not the same political phenomena, but they are just different manifestations of the same trend in international politics.

Russia: Sovereignty Through Force

Russia exemplifies its most aggressive stance. With Putin’s attack on Ukraine and the Russian annexation attempt of Ukrainian territory, Russia violates one of the most important principles of the international order after 1945: that borders must not be changed using force. On........

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