For Trump, putting America first means that being a global leader on human rights may take a back seat.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has argued the US should stay in the Paris climate agreement. But for the rest of the world, a US exit is better than staying reluctantly.
Carlos Barria/Reuters
If the US stays in the Paris deal but misses its targets, the deal could look like a sham. But if Trump carries out his threat to withdraw, the US veto would be gone, and other nations might step up.
AU Chair Moussa Faki in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa.
Tiksa Negeri/Reuters
Ivan Kurilla, European University at St Petersburg
Relations between Russia and the United States have reached an all-time low since the US strike on Syria. But Moscow knows that Washington will need its support if tension rises with North Korea.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson head to a meeting in Moscow.
Reuters/Maxim Shemetov
What vastly complicates Western policy in Syria is how to sanction Assad on one hand and deal with Islamic State on the other, without the country unravelling completely.
The over-riding priority underpinning North Korean foreign policy is regime survival and the perpetuation of the Kim family dynasty.
Reuters/KCNA
Regardless of how the US sending an aircraft carrier group to the Korean Peninsula plays out, the international community will ultimately have to accept and learn to manage a nuclear North Korea.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is welcomed by US Ambassador to Russia John Tefft.
Maxim Shemetov/Reuters
Uncertainty persists about what “America First” will mean for US-Asia policy, and the Secretary of State’s recent tour of the region leaves us none the wiser.
A North Korean ballistic rocket launching drill, undated photo.
REUTERS/ North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA)
Tensions in Asia may soon boil over. If U.S. leaders fail to seek pathways to peace, the consequences may be grim, warns former National Security Council member.
A Trump administration raises many questions about how America’s relationships with other world powers will play out.
Reuters/Lucy Nicholson
Far from ‘making America great again’, Donald Trump’s sloganeering will deepen mistrust of US motives and irreparably damage any prospect of co-existence, let alone a more co-operative world order.
President Donald Trump signs his first executive order, Friday, Jan. 20, 2017, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington.
AP Photo/Evan Vucci
Sarah B. Snyder, American University School of International Service
An analysis of four failed presidential cabinet nominees reveals what obstacles Trump’s nominees might face during the confirmation process.
In 1945, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt met with King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud, part of a behind-the-scenes policy to ensure access to oil for the U.S. and its allies.
National Archives and Records Administration