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Ambassador Derek Shearer is the former U.S. Ambassador to Finland during the Clinton Administration, Diplomat in Residence, and Emeritus Professor of DWA. DWA Professor Anthony Chase is a prominent scholar of human rights, democracy, and transitional justice in the Middle East, Latin America, and globally.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, it had been a tradition in the DWA department to host “The State of the World” talk at the end of the year and invite students to discuss issues that concerned them. Since this is his final year at ��«Ӱҵ, Ambassador Shearer, joined by DWA Professor Anthony Chase, laid out the basics of “The State of the World 2025” presenting his perspective on what has happened this year, and inviting students to ask questions.

Global opinion of President Trump and U.S. foreign policies have not been so positive. Ambassador Shearer’s brief presentation on “How the Rest of the World Sees President Trump, America and Trump Foreign Policy” highlighted a wide partisan gap in confidence in President Trump on key foreign policy issues like U.S. policy toward Israel, China, North Korea, and Iran; working effectively with U.S. allies, global energy and climate issues, and the handling of the war between Russia and Ukraine. Most importantly, U.S. allies now have a less positive view toward the United States in regard to President Trump’s tariff policy, and U.S. allies in Asia feel less confident in Trump’s handling of China.

In terms of domestic politics, Ambassador Shearer expressed his belief that President Trump’s policies regarding the importance of alliance, immigrants, diversity, and science contradict the founding of the United States. Drawing from a PBS documentary “The American Revolution,” Ambassador Shearer mentioned that scientist Benjamin Franklin was appointed as a diplomat to gain France’s support in the American Revolution. African Americans and Native-Americans fought on both sides in the Revolutionary War. Ambassador Shearer asserted, “It’s important to realize that what’s happening right now is historic and it may have a very serious lasting impact.”

According to Ambassador Shearer, U.S. foreign policies under the Trump administration present a basic contention, which is a lack of coherent strategy. Foreign policy behavior that turns allies into enemies and rejects democratic norms has called into question whether they are grounded in rationality.

Ambassador Shearer contended that the United States has replaced soft power with hard power, like economic and military means. For instance, using tariffs to punish allies like Canada, India, and Mexico, and dismantling programs like Voice of America (VOA). According to Ambassador Shearer, every country can use every kind of power that it has, but there ought to be a clear strategy behind that. 

While it is true that President Trump’s economic policies are transactional and mercantilist, Professor Chase asserted that he still uses soft power, just not in the same terms as the previous administrations. President Trump is currently building an alliance with fellow right-wing leaders in Hungary and Honduras. On top of this, Ambassador Shearer added that President Trump seems to be more comfortable negotiating with authoritarian leaders like the Russian President Vladimir Putin than U.S. democratic allies in the European Union and NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization). According to Ambassador Shearer, “There is an authoritarian message, and it is beyond just the U.S. There is a global movement, and it seems that the person that we selected to be president sees himself as a global authoritarian leader.”

According to Professor Chase, at least 60% of the U.S. public opinion was against U.S. interference in Venezuela, exemplifying the pushback against the Secretary of War. From reading the news on this matter, Professor Chase views that this policy behavior, which includes the killing of people on boats, is an outrageous violation of human rights and international humanitarian law. He asserted, “We have seen so many of Trump's policies, so much is coming down the pipe that is contrary to preexisting norms.” 

The impact of breaking down democratic norms extends beyond the United States. According to Professor Chase, the way President Trump disables agencies like the World Health Organization (WHO) “at the heart of global governance, at the heart of international organizations” complements the foreign policy of China and Russia. Professor Chase argued that this behavior exemplifies the pushback against the roles of international organizations when it comes to dealing with global issues like climate change. “That seems to be a real danger that the legacy here, even if we have a rejection of Trump in the upcoming elections, the harm is already done and aligned with other countries, with global allies in terms of undercutting the rule of law globally.”