While Europe is destabilized by the turmoil in its security environment orchestrated by Donald Trump, US allies in Northeast Asia (South Korea and Japan), whose security depends on Washington, are, for the time being, adopting a wait-and-see, distanced attitude that is not devoid of apprehension. This is evidenced by the caution in Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's response to a question in the Lower House on Monday, March 3, about the altercation between Trump and Zelensky. "We do not intend to take sides," Ishiba said. "The most important thing is to maintain unity within the G7."

The significant deterioration of the global situation reminded the Japanese of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's warning in June 2022: "Today Ukraine, tomorrow, East Asia." The phrase seemed alarmist at the time. It is no longer so. "We are at the end of the United States' planetary empire," said Endo Ken, a political scientist at the University of Tokyo. "The day Donald Trump doubts the value of Taiwan or South Korea in his bargaining, their fate will be decided as was that of Ukraine."

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