With Donald Trump’s second term about to begin, the world must gear up for what could be the most dramatic confrontation in international politics since Harry Truman squared off against Joseph Stalin at the start of the Cold War. Xi Jinping and Mr. Trump will be the two most powerful men in the world, and their ambitions and agendas are directly opposed to each other’s.
The two leaders have much in common. Both dominate their domestic political scenes. Mr. Xi is the most powerful Communist Party leader since Mao Zedong. Mr. Trump is the most dominant Republican since Ronald Reagan. Neither leader likes opposition, and both have struggled to purge their parties of dissent. Both are instinctive mercantilists and view trade deficits as bad. Both appear willing to devalue their currencies to promote exports. Both favor crushing Nimby opposition to important energy and infrastructure projects. Both hold in contempt the liberal internationalist ideals of the trans-Atlantic elite and regard Europe as a decadent swamp. Both want to make their countries great again.
Read the full article in The Wall Street Journal.
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