Applebaum says U.S. foreign-policy shift is prompting allies to diversify ties

Anne Applebaum argues that the United States is moving away from democratic-alliance leadership toward a more transactional approach to power. In the France 24 discussion, she says Canada and European governments are responding by exploring broader economic, political and security relationships.

Anne Applebaum, a staff writer at The Atlantic and author of *Autocracy, Inc.*, says the upheaval in U.S. diplomacy represents a structural change rather than a development limited to one administration. Speaking to France 24’s François Picard, she described an American foreign policy increasingly shaped by ideology, private economic interests, personal relationships and geopolitical leverage.

According to Applebaum’s analysis, the shift is taking the United States away from its traditional role as leader of a democratic alliance. She characterized the emerging approach as transactional and compared its political style to “mafia-style” bargaining, while arguing that it is altering how Washington uses its influence abroad.

The consequences, she said, are already visible among U.S. partners. Canada has begun pursuing closer economic and political relationships with the European Union, India and China, according to the source text. Applebaum presented that move as part of a broader effort to reduce reliance on a relationship with Washington that had previously been unusually close.

European governments, she added, are also confronting an ally they regard as less predictable and increasingly adversarial. The material says that countries are quietly examining alternative economic and security arrangements as the United States adopts a harder-line, populist and more autocratic style at home and overseas.

Applebaum described the process as both a revolution and a counter-revolution. While she argued that President Donald Trump’s political model has found imitators, she said it is also generating strong resistance. Falling confidence in U.S. reliability is encouraging governments to hedge against future uncertainty, diversify partnerships and consider a world in which Washington is not automatically central.

The discussion portrayed this outcome as an unintended consequence of an isolationist approach. Applebaum’s assessment is that a policy intended to preserve or expand American dominance could instead contribute to a diminished U.S. role in international affairs and accelerate the development of a different global order.