America and the world order

The Trump administration's unique approach to world affairs and its rejection of international institutions is causing lasting damage to the global rules-based order.

President Trump has pledged to withdraw the US from the Paris climate change agreement, as well as pulling out of international trade deals and the UN Human Rights Council.

This podcast considers America’s disengagement and the threat to international law and the shared system of global governance. Assessing the challenges are:

• John Bellinger, who served as Senior Associate Counsel to President George W Bush and top legal adviser to the US State Department; and
• Harold Koh, the State Department's most senior lawyer under President Obama, and Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy and Human Rights during the Clinton administration.

They assess America’s diminishing global influence; the implications for human rights and the rule of law; the shift in relations with other countries; and the guardrails in place in the US government to keep the President in check.