On February 7, Robert Manning published his biweekly op-ed in The Hill on the question of whether the United States is capable of shaping a rules-based order. Manning made the point that US domestic chaos and its frayed position internationally requires that it work with allies and partners to shape the rules of the future and cannot approach the process as though it can dictate affairs.
“It is repeated endlessly: U.S. foreign policy is about defending the ‘rules-based international order.’ That’s a codeword for the challenge from China, which is trying to rewrite the rules. Fine. But if the U.S. can’t even design its own rules on, for example, the urgent issue of digital privacy or regulating Big Tech, how can it play on that larger stage?”
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