So many people don’t understand soft power, or how much of it the US used to have. Now all they have is hard power, eg. sanctions and military action. And who would bother with either of those for a few tens of millions in fines? So now all the things America could do while saying cough USAID cough just aren’t going to happen without much more pressure, which oftentimes will simply not be worth it.
The US still has a lot of soft power, you shouldnt underestimate that. But it has vastly less than it did a decade ago, Trump has burnt through a huge amount.
So many people don’t understand soft power, or how much of it the US used to have. Now all they have is hard power, eg. sanctions and military action. And who would bother with either of those for a few tens of millions in fines? So now all the things America could do while saying cough USAID cough just aren’t going to happen without much more pressure, which oftentimes will simply not be worth it.
The US still has a lot of soft power, you shouldnt underestimate that. But it has vastly less than it did a decade ago, Trump has burnt through a huge amount.