Kim Won-soo

Two dramatic events were recently televised live worldwide from Washington, the capital of the world's wealthiest and most powerful country. The events happened one after another in the hearts of America's foremost political institutions, the White House and the Capitol.

On Feb. 28, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was berated by both U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance over the Russia-Ukraine war. The meeting ended on a bitter note in an extraordinarily discourteous manner, especially for the visiting head of state whose country was fighting, with the assistance of the U.S., a much bigger power.

The second event happened when Trump addressed the joint session of Congress on March 4 for the first time since retaking office. His 100-minute address, one of the longest in history, received extremely polarized reactions — applause from Republicans and jeers from Democrats. It culminated in a very rare scene in which one of the Democrats was ordered by the Speaker to be escorted out of the chamber for interrupting the speech.

Trump's main message was that "America is back" under his leadership. He ended by claiming "the golden age of America has only just begun." He seems to argue that Pax Americana can be extended in........

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