Here they are, together at the helm, a shock trio with expansionist ambitions on full display. For the second time this century, Donald Trump is reunited with his two great working partners, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, after the 2016-2020 period when the American politician last occupied the White House. Over and above the conflicts that may pit them against each other, the three men have much in common.

First of all, there's the domestic rhetoric, aimed within each of their countries. Xi wants to realize the "Chinese dream," the "rejuvenation of the Chinese nation" – in short, something that was beautiful and great, has been lost, and needs to be rediscovered. Nostalgic for the days of the Soviet Union, Putin is not content with his Greater Russia: He mourns an empire that once was and is no more. With his "Make America Great Again" (MAGA) mantra, Trump cultivates nostalgia for a sense that "things were better before," hearkening back to the time after the Second World War, when the United States seemed internally united and externally unrivaled. Across history, the frantic quest for a supposed golden age does not necessarily bode well.

All the more so as the renewals the three "bros" have promised to their peoples require the domination of other peoples, starting with their neighbors – who have the misfortune of being smaller than them. Putin is sowing death and destruction in the war of aggression he has been waging for three years against Ukraine, a country whose existence, let alone independence, he does not recognize. Through his local despot, he has seized control of Belarus. He has destabilized Georgia and threatened Moldova. He is incapable of imagining Russian happiness existing within Russia's borders.

Small neighbors

Xi has used force to settle disputes with his Pacific neighbors. He has seized and militarized islets that Vietnam, the Philippines or others had felt fell under their sovereign rights. He has threatened to retake Taiwan by force. His economic policy has all the trappings of a trade war. The Chinese industrial sector produces two to three times more goods than China can consume. Made public on Monday, January 13, China's 2024 trade surplus with the rest of the world reached almost $1,000 billion – an absolute record. In the absence of a welfare state, which Xi does not want to develop, domestic consumption remains low and savings (to cover retirement, education and healthcare) are abundant. The "Chinese dream" is all about the foreign market, not domestic comfort.

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