Zaki Laïdi, professor of international relations at Sciences Po, was special adviser to Josep Borrell, European Union (EU) high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, from 2020 to 2024. He is currently working on a book on the global impact of the war in Ukraine.
Donald Trump sees the world as a playground for real estate developers. His return will move us away from a multilateral world governed by rules toward a transactional universe shaped by agreements, sometimes sordid, often unpredictable. Trump believes, like Vladimir Putin, that the strong are destined to gobble up the weak. In this sense, the idea of Ukraine falling into Russia's orbit doesn't fundamentally bother him. He himself talks of buying Greenland, absorbing Canada and reclaiming the Panama Canal! His rhetoric serves the Kremlin, just as it might serve Beijing's ambitions for Taiwan. Trump fundamentally believes in power and scoffs at those who claim that competition between states is a 19th-century relic.
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