No. 33 of 108

July 16, 2025

Mexico is in talks to have stronger trade collaboration with Canada. Both countries are tariff targets of the U.S. South Asian countries are strengthening political and economic arrangements with China in the wake of weaker relationships with the U.S. As the U.S. drops out of alternative energy, China is poised to overtake and lead in solar energy. Denmark, a middling to neutral member of the European community, is now bullish on the European Union and NATO. NATO countries are contributing substantially more toward NATO, not only as a response to the U.S.’s demands for such, but with the strategic option of going it alone without the U.S., if necessary, faster than necessary. In what wasn’t thought possible, Israel is freer from U.S. influence, striking Damascus in the last twenty hours, and touting the Gaza “humanitarian city”.  In the wake of what has been seen as politically motivated retaliation and interference, public support for Lula has surged as the U.S. threatens high tariffs if the charges against Bolsonaro aren’t dropped.

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A country’s positions count. A country’s positions are a reflection of its worldview as it meets its belief and willingness to step into one role, or another. Learning from the previous round, countries are more likely to view the American rupture as a normal, rather than as a temporary phenom. And so countries and multinational institutions are, in 2025, deciding into more significant realignments, each intent on their own survival – yes – but also their own advantage.