III. The US election

Chapter:

1. Introduction: International stability and human security in 2020

Source:

SIPRI Yearbook 2021

Author(s):

Dan Smith

The 2020 US presidential election result brought to an end a US administration that had systematically challenged multiple features of the international system which previous administrations of both parties had helped build, and which have benefited the USA and its successive governments for several decades. Among other actions, the Trump administration withdrew from bilateral and multilateral treaties, suspended funding to the WHO, abandoned Pacific trade negotiations, and weakened the World Trade Organization (WTO) by withholding approvals of key positions.⁹⁷ It has been a particularity of the international system in recent years that none of the three great powers—China, Russia and the USA—was committed to the international status quo.⁹⁸ Each has taken an opportunistic and pragmatic approach to norms, commitments and participation in international institutions. This has been associated with rising insecurity and risk amid increasingly toxic geopolitical relations. The international significance of the election result and change of administration, accordingly, is greater than the norm.