When the US humiliates foreign leaders and threatens countries with economic coercion, they respond by gravitating toward China and regional powers rather than confronting US pressure directly, accelerating the multipolar fragmentation of the global order away from US leadership.
causalpending
Speaker
Ben RhodesEvidence Quote
“if you threaten countries with terrorists if you humiliate foreign leaders if you kind of pick these types of fights they may be very nice to you right um you might not want to go up to the bully in the schoolyard and and you know punch back but you're probably going to go over to the other corner of the schoolyard and find another group of people to hang out with [14:45]”
Source
Ben Rhodes: The Warren and Anita Manshel Lecture in American Foreign Policy— Weatherhead Center for International AffairsCreated: 8/11/2026, 7:39:48 AM
My Notes
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