Alan Zendell, March 27, 2025

Suppose one of our vital allies – maybe the UK, Germany, Australia, Mexico or Canada – suddenly went rogue. After decades of cooperation and a shared sense of purpose, they suddenly switched gears and began flirting with our enemies. Their leaders began referring to us in insulting, derogatory rants, making it sound as if nearly a century of common purpose was really just transactional, a Ponzi scheme to rip them off, until someone else offered them a better deal.

To make matters worse, our hypothetical ally adopted economic theories that have been shown to be unworkable, either for their own population or the stability of international trade and its consequent effects on inflation and complex supply chains. In addition, their new populist leaders were pushing their country toward oligarchic, religion-based Fascism that was tearing our once valuable ally into warring factions that threatened their viability as a dependable nation, especially if they possessed nuclear weapons. Unlikely as that seems, bad economic policies and internal chaos caused the Soviet Union to implode in 1991, reminding us that large, powerful countries remain so only until they’re not anymore.

In recent years, we’ve seen similar trends in NATO allies Hungary and Turkey. That was disturbing, but while both nations were of strategic importance in defending NATO countries against Russian aggression and radical Islamic terrorism, they were neither major trading partners nor large stakeholders in our domestic economy, so most Americans didn’t feel particularly affected or threatened by what they did.

But suppose they did. Suppose our rogue ally was heavily invested in American assets, and was a country we depended on for scarce resources or military support. If we saw our own economy or general well-being threatened, what would we do? Our government would attempt to use all its diplomatic assets to resolve growing conflicts and avert future ones. But what if there was no one listening at the other end of the phone? What if, despite warnings and hand-wringing, as when the UK decided to break from the European Union, our entreaties fell on deaf ears?

It’s not clear how we would react. The only thing that’s certain is that months or years of chaos would ensue which would threaten the security of individual nations as well as increasing the prospect of major military conflicts. Regardless of what our government did, we’d have our own personal reactions. Remember after nine-eleven when Americans directed their anger at every Muslim country and wound up supporting a twenty-year war with the wrong enemies? As individuals, we’d all be rooting for a revolution like the recent overthrow of Assad’s government in Syria, and our intelligence services would likely be working covertly to support that end.

Those are the thoughts that trouble me when I imagine what our former allies think about Project 2025, which is blindly driving the Trump administration in an uncertain, dangerous game of chicken with the entire world that looks very much like the tantrum of an angry child with a loaded gun. It’s also clear, from Donald Trump’s history and the fact that he filled his cabinet with unqualified  amateurs who have no respect for diplomatic norms and procedures, that they are being herded along a path most of them, includig Trump, do not understand. It’s the natural evolution of a nation that allowed political rhetoric and an unregulated, hack-vulnerable internet to destroy the meaning of truth and facts.

Unlike the hypothetical scenario I presented, our closest allies are looking at the possible dissolution of a coalition they’ve depended on and rebuilt their post-WW2 economies around. They don’t see the possible loss of a valuable ally; they see the toughest kid on the block who used to be their friend suddenly turn hostile. As a patriotic American, this appalls and terrifies me. I find myself wishing for what the rest of Europe and North America are wishing for, not a coup or revolution, but responsible opposition that can stop Project 2025 in its tracks.

Unfortunately, the opposition to Trump’s policies has no leadership, and I find myself greatly conflicted. In truth, I’m hoping for the Trump administration to fail miserably and quickly before it can inflict further irreversible damage. That I feel that way shocks me, but when I see reckless, irresponsible, dangerous behavior on the part of leaders who are drowning in waters they’ve never swum in before, I find the interests of Americans far more aligned with those of our horrified allies than the Trump administration’s.

I expect that more than half of America is experiencing a similar conflict. When the Democratic leaders of the House and Senate cannot agree on whether to pass a budget resolution, when we have to choose between shutting down our government and giving Trump a blank check to destroy whatever personally offends him, our country is in serious trouble. No wonder I feel conflicted.