Opinion | Decoding Trump’s tariffs and the world’s multipolar future
The US president’s trade wars, while ostensibly about economic fairness, are part of a larger narrative of a hegemon’s diminishing dominance
Global hegemons, when things are going their way, employ positive, inclusive and progressive narratives. But when the odds are stacked against them, their language shifts – hostile rhetoric and fighting words replace optimism, alongside negative depictions of perceived threats and adversaries.
Consider the British Empire. After it had collapsed and its global dominance waned, it sought to salvage its legacy by rebranding its former colonies as part of “The Commonwealth” – a term projecting unity and hierarchy.
In more recent times, similar strategic language has underpinned American hegemony. Take expressions like “the rule-based international system”, suggesting fair multilateralism; “free and open Indo-Pacific”, contrasting China’s trade practices with Western ideals; “liberal democracy”, signifying Western superiority; and terms like “global stability”, “economic prosperity”, “defending human rights”, or “alliance of democracies”, all of which sought to legitimise America’s central role in shaping the global order.
Other terms – equally suggestive but aimed at spelling out supposed threats to the hegemonic system – serve to rally allies against challenges to the hegemon. See “authoritarian threats”, “economic decoupling”, “global fragmentation”, “democracy in decline”, “disinformation”, and the catch-all for crises of all types: “unprecedented challenges”.
By critically analysing this discourse, we can contextualise the tariff war and strip away the deliberately misleading connotations.