Russia in Global Affairs

We are entering an era in which countries remain deeply interconnected while becoming increasingly determined to defend their own interests and identities, and that’s the central contradiction of the new international system. In this world, every major election becomes an international event, and whether we like it or not, we’re all watching, and the spectacle is at the very least fascinating.

After it was confirmed that U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend the APEC Summit in Shenzhen, China, scheduled for 18-19 November 2026, expectations have grown that a trilateral meeting of the three most powerful heads of state may mark a proactive strategic recalibration required by the exigencies of the current international situation.

September 11 was a turning point as the attacks ended the extraordinary post-Cold War interlude in which American predominance appeared almost uncontested, and, more importantly, Washington’s response accelerated the processes that brought that period to a close. What will replace it remains unclear.

The ‘unipolar era’ is over but there is no clear evidence of American decline. In fact, it is the spectacular rise of China which allows us to declare the end of the American unipolar domination.

The foundations of U.S. hegemony have displayed cracks of many kinds. With a fractured and precarious society, growing challenges to its legitimacy and worldview, increasingly contested military power, and the rebellion of much of the Global South, the U.S. is not in the best position to impose its power on the world.

Iran is the most serious opponent the US has confronted directly in many decades. Even if military success is swift, the balance of forces is not in Iran’s favour, and even if the post-war chaos of Iraq is avoided by steering clear of internal occupation, the broader consequences are likely to disappoint.

Trumpism is not an attempt to restore the global leadership of the 1990s–2010s, when Washington aimed to regulate the entire planet. The new approach is different. It exploits every lever of American power accumulated through decades of hegemony. Not for universal rule, but for specific gain. It is also strikingly honest. Material interest is openly declared, and there is little effort to disguise it behind “values.”

If 2025 has shown anything, it is that the world is moving away from the illusions of universal integration. Great powers are returning to geography, reasserting control over the spaces closest to them, and redefining what responsibility means within those boundaries. Territory matters again. Classical geopolitics, long dismissed as outdated, is enjoying a revival.

American politics, in 2026, are a matter of trying to correct the mistakes that were made during the ‘end of history.’ Such mistakes are many; the U.S. set the global agenda and is principally responsible for the current situation. But unless another black swan throws everything into disarray, the Americans will take lessons from all this that are applicable to them.