Americans no longer agree about who or what constitutes a threat, with Democrats much more likely to cite internal cohesion and political violence, and Republicans more concerned with traditional nation-state foes.
Moreover, Americans are divided by ideology and age over whether people and ideas from elsewhere are an opportunity or a threat.
These divisions, and the resulting policy gridlock, would be bad enough in isolation. But the rest of the world is watching, and it sees a society that cannot agree on what democracy is, or on who belongs to the demos.
THE WORLD WATCHES
In the World Bank’s Combined Polity Score index, the US has been downgraded from a longstanding score of 10, the highest for a democracy, to a five, meaning it is on the verge of anocracy: A democracy with authoritarian characteristics.
Around the world, those who have been inspired by leaders like Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King are now haunted by images of the Confederate flag being waved in the halls of Congress.
Allies whose ties to the US go back to World War II now see US elected officials embracing Holocaust deniers.
Neither friend nor foe believes that the US can or will deliver on its long-term promises anymore, whether in the realm of vaccine distribution, climate accords, or nuclear deals.
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