Bloomberg Surveillance · Thursday, September 17, 2026
U.S. diplomacy is seen as weakening its global alliances at a time when strengthening them is crucial for competing with China. While China is actively building relationships with countries like Russia, Iran, and in the global south, the U.S. is seeing its alliances erode, creating a concerning imbalance for future geopolitical challenges.
“Well, our diplomacy looks, if you look at it in a very simple way... Like, we are weakening our alliances across the board at a time when we should be strengthening them if we want to strengthen our hand.”
“The Chinese are strengthening their relationships now. With Russia, with Iran, with Ukraine and the global south, we're weakening our relationships with the countries that were part of our bulwark in dealing with the Soviets during the Cold War, and we're going to be needing them to deal with the competition from China over the next 20 years. So they're moving in the direction of more solidarity among their allies. We're moving toward greater weakness now. among our allies, and I think it's a very bad mix and a very bad prognostication for the future. Not something I look forward to.”