Is Trump’s America at the start of a Soviet-style downfall?
Leading Chinese political scientist observes ‘unprecedented’ shifts in America and draws parallels to Mikhail Gorbachev’s reforms
America’s transformation under President Donald Trump has parallels with Mikhail Gorbachev’s reforms in the last years of the Soviet Union, and the effects will be felt throughout the democratic, regional and international orders, a prominent Chinese political scientist has warned.
In an article published last Friday in the Greater Bay Area Review, a social media account affiliated with the university, the political commentator said that deep structural tensions building in the United States during the post-Cold War era could only be resolved “either through radical reform or through an even more radical revolution”.
“Whether this revolution will unfold in a controlled manner, evolve into a genuine revolution or end halfway remains to be seen,” Zheng added. “What is certain, however, is that this revolution … must be profound.
“Otherwise, it will fail to address the structural crises confronting the US.”
Zheng said the collapse of major powers had historically reshaped at least four layers of order: the internal order of the state itself; the domestic order of states linked to it; the regional order governing relations between them; and the broader international order.