Afrasianet - Yacoub Adel Bashir - Since returning to the White House in January 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump has not stopped redefining the United States' place in the world. While his administration talks about "restoring deterrence" and "peace through force," the political rhetoric produced by those around Trump, from Robert O'Brien to "America First" advisers, reflects a broader vision than just a course correction; it is an attempt to reproduce American hegemony in a more pluralistic international order.
From "America First" to "Peace Through Strength"
In his first term, Trump spoke the language of economic isolation and the "America First" principle that shook the foundations of globalization.In the second term, the rhetoric turned into what can be called "second Trumpism", which is based on a combination of economic nationalism, military assertiveness, and strategic blackmail. He made the world pay for his "security" under the American umbrella. Thus, the old slogan of "peace by force" is being renewed as a justification for a return to military deterrence and control of markets together.
"Peace through force is not peace, but postponement of wars in the name of stability"
The New Deterrence Strategy
The second Trumpism is based on reviving classic deterrence through non-classical means: increasing U.S. defense spending to unprecedented levels, persuading NATO members to raise their budgets to 5 percent of GDP, and launching weapons programs in the Asia-Pacific aimed at simultaneously deterring China and containing Russia. Every ally pays for protection, and each partner bears part of the financial burden. Washington imposes its leadership by involving others in its funding.
A world rearranging itself
The world facing Trump in his second term is not the world of 2016. China is no longer just a rising power, but a competing partner in the management of the international system. Russia is now in an open confrontation with the West on Ukrainian soil. Europe itself has lost faith in the U.S. umbrella after years of "security blackmail."
The "second Trumpian" is betting that international turmoil is its golden opportunity. Every war keeps Washington in power, every economic crisis restores the dollar's position as a safe-haven currency, and every tension in the Middle East justifies the survival of American bases and the influence of arms companies.
Middle East between deterrence and adaptation
Between the limited U.S. strikes on Iran, the absolute support for Israel in its war on Gaza, and attempts to pressure Gulf capitals to expand security normalization, it is clear that Washington is no longer looking for stability as much as it seeks to reshape the balance of power that ensures the region's continued dependence on U.S. protection. It is a policy of "deterrence by adaptation". At the same time, Trump presented to the American public as a "peacemaker" worthy of the Nobel Prize because, as he says, "he ended eight wars and did not start one"!
An international regime on the edge of reset
It is an attempt to redefine American leadership as a "hard power center" amid a network of flexible alliances, so that Washington remains the rhythm officer even in a world shared by major powers such as China, India, and Russia.
The illusion of strength and stability of weakness
But the lessons of the 21st century show that force without legitimacy creates a moral vacuum, not a strategic vacuum, and that stability is not based on fear, but on balance. It is more dangerous than its predecessor: it is a force without a project, a leadership without a vision.
Academic in the Department of Political Science, Kuwait University.