“History has many cunning passages, contrived corridors, And issues, deceives with whispering ambitions, Guides us by vanities.”

The often-quoted lines from T. S. Eliot’s poem appropriately capture the essence of disruption and instability in the current global geopolitics caused by what may be called ‘Trumpnomics’. They vividly echo the turmoil of current global geopolitics and its cunning intrigues.

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In a world rife with narrow-minded agenda and fragile alliances, we’re increasingly seeing ambitions and personal vanities of leaders becoming louder than the objectives of cooperation and peaceful coexistence. The disruption and turbulence caused by such gestures is challenging the very idea of an international order which needs mutual respect, understanding and stability. Consequently, the idea of ‘rule-based order’ sounds more like a utopia; aspirational but unrealistic.

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Nobody can assimilate how bullying, arm twisting, laying sanctions or unleashing tariff wars against more than half the global economies can ‘Make America Great Again’. The United States which is a $28 trillion economy, itself reels under $36.2 trillion debt and has a staggering124 per cent Debt to GDP Ratio. The US trade deficit was $60.2 billion in June 2025. Its imports were worth $337.5 billion while the export was $277.3 billion during the same period. The economic performance of the oligarch is definitely not impressive. But is imposing exorbitant tariffs and unleashing a trade war an answer?

America is not producing enough because over the years it has outsourced manufacturing to China and to the rest........

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