I suspect Trump would agree with Henry Kissinger's view that America has no permanent friends or enemies, only interests

David Rothkopf : With the fall of Communism, an international consensus had been reached.

He says that with the end of the Cold War , liberal democracy had triumphed over all of its 20th-century ideological rivals.

But few talked about what was more ominous: the retreat from liberal democracy and the rise of authoritarian rule.

He argues that with Trump ’s brand of chaotic diplomacy, we seem to be approaching a new and different end of history, a completely transactional world.

Julian Zelizer : The return of 19th-century balance of power dynamics creates the laboratory for what a harsher, less cooperative world looks like.

He says the remaining liberal democracies do not have enough clout to pressure countries toward democratic idealism and the rules-based international order.

Zelizer says this is exactly how the “America First ” crowd wants it.

In 1989 , when Fukuyama published his “ End of History ?” essay, the idea that European fascism could return in any way, shape, or form seemed ridiculous.

With the triumph of liberal democracy, there seemed to be no grounds in which fascism could take root.

But with the steep rise in immigration to Europe during the Syrian civil war , the stagnation of some European economies and the roiling grievances of white working-class nationalists, fascism flickered to life again.