The United States has taken the initiative to stop playing the role of world policeman. A “multipolar world” that has been talked about for a long time but has not been implemented is really coming. However, how multipolar it is and whether it will bring benefits or disasters to everyone cannot be covered up with a simple statement. In a multipolar world without superheroes, if some extremes cannot let go of the opportunistic impulse of “Qin lost its deer, and the heroes chased it”, disastrous consequences are also very likely.
There is a famous inspiring line in Marvel’s superhero series “Spider-Man”: “With great power comes great responsibility.” This sentence not only inspires the protagonist in the film to stand up and shoulder the heavy responsibility of being a superhero to save people from danger, but also summarizes the core spirit of all superhero stories in a broad sense, that is, heroes with abilities beyond ordinary citizens use their abilities to uphold justice and defeat evil.
Compared with the superheroes who are the bright protagonists, the ordinary citizens who are rescued from the water and fire in many superhero movies show a certain degree of “mob” face: in addition to running away and feeling helpless in the disaster, sometimes they even accuse the superheroes of damaging their property in the process of saving the suffering, or simply dislike the existence of the hero, pick up the bowl to eat meat, put down the bowl to curse, and show their selfishness and self-centeredness vividly.
As a “type”, the reason why superhero movies including Marvel were born in the United States and are popular is, to a large extent, inseparable from the spiritual characteristics and self-identity of the United States itself at a certain period: the United States has the ability and moral obligation to play the role of a superhero on this planet, to establish and maintain an international system connected by values, basically inclusive and fair, to use its power to support the weak within this system, to fight against hostile forces outside this system, and to achieve “Pax Americana”.
Just as superhero movies have reached the current point of exhaustion and have to rely on continuous sequels to cover up the embarrassment of the Hollywood film industry’s lack of creativity, the first “return of the king” in more than a hundred years, US President Trump, is trying to make the United States shed the role of “superhero” and become more and more “ordinary citizens”.
A century of “Spider-Man” self-discovery journey
Spider-Man spent a movie to complete his self-discovery journey of ability and responsibility, while the United States has gone through nearly a century.
In the late 19th century, the United States gradually acquired the national strength to practice the Monroe Doctrine, and in the early 20th century, it jumped onto the international stage and made its first attempt amid the clamor of European powers. At that time, the United States was still an “ordinary citizen” following behind the European big brothers, attached to the international system at the time, and tried to take advantage of opportunities to make profits for itself. The Spanish-American War and the “open door” proposal to China were all manifestations of such self-interested actions.
Europe destroyed its future with the world war, and the United States grew stronger. A few American intellectuals tried to apply their ideals to the planning of the world, but the United States itself did not buy it. It did not think that it should pursue responsibilities commensurate with its own capabilities.
World War II promoted the growth of the United States as a “superhero” to a considerable extent. Making great efforts to “save” Europe, rather than just fighting back against Japan, which actually attacked itself, and planning the United Nations (establishing an international administrative system) and organizing war criminal trials (establishing an international legal system) after the war, showed that the idea of being a world leader had been accepted by the American elite.
But this period was still very delicate. The large-scale demobilization of the US military showed that the United States had the opportunity to let its horses go to the south mountain and retreat to a position of self-satisfaction after providing a prototype of an international system. The sudden advent of the Cold War pushed the United States to another path at the crossroads.
The challenges to the newly established international system brought about by the Soviet Union’s nuclear deterrence and North Korea’s brazen invasion of South Korea made the entire American people enter a period of acceptance, recognition and advocacy that the United States should become a “superhero.” The nuclear threat made the American public accept the idea that they must stand up, otherwise no one would be left alive; the outbreak of the Korean War forced the United States to abandon its plan to let its horses run wild, and instead maintain and strengthen its standing forces and play the role of “world policeman”.
In this way, a “Spider-Man” completed the initial recognition of his own capabilities and responsibilities, and confronted the Soviet “evil empire” described as the perfect villain throughout the Cold War.
The victory in the Cold War further strengthened the United States’ recognition of its own superhero role. “Spider-Man” saw that his efforts would be rewarded, and he spared no effort to promote his own cognition. Some ideas during the Cold War were retained and carried forward, such as the stratification of the international system based on values, human rights diplomacy, and sheltering allies; some new ideas were advocated, such as promoting the “progressive” agenda in “backward” countries, promoting social transformation in specific countries, humanitarian assistance and development, etc. The United States’ leadership role in the world has become increasingly prominent, and its “stall” has become larger and larger, and hidden worries have been buried.
Looking back at history, the peak of the American “Spider-Man” can be said to be the efforts of the Bush administration to promote extensive democratic institutional reforms in the Middle East. Rather than being a war for oil, the Iraq War was an attempt to disintegrate the most conservative institutional bastions in order to form a world design for a “non-aggression between democratic countries” system. The blueprint for this world-class transformation project is extremely complex and huge, and failure is expected. From then on, the United States’ over-expanded imperial form, which claimed to take on the role of a superhero, showed obvious weaknesses and fatigue, and domestic aversion to the “thankless” role of “world leader” became more and more inflated.
Trump’s efforts to reduce entropy and possible trends
One month after Trump took office for the second time, he has the support of the majority of the people and both houses of Congress in his hands, and he finally let go of his long-cherished wish of “draining the Washington swamp”. Internally, he used the “Doge Department” (DOGE, editor’s note: the English abbreviation of the Department of Government Efficiency) to vigorously streamline the federal government, which he regarded as too large and over-expanded; externally, he reduced the obligations of the United States as a world leader in various ways, including foreign aid and foreign asylum involving actual expenditures, as well as the image and posture of a leader, such as withdrawing from the multilateral carbon emissions agreement, claiming to withdraw from the United Nations Human Rights Council and ordering sanctions against the International Criminal Court.
Overall, in Trump’s view, the federal government is getting bigger and bigger, making American society difficult to move forward; and the external obligations are just the empty title of “world leader” (not everyone thinks so), but the allies are sucked dry, the latecomers are free riders, and the competitors are rising. Trump’s slogan “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) is based on the premise that the United States is no longer great. Because of the redundancy at home and the excessive support abroad, the United States is being hollowed out and has a false appearance. The real internal strength can no longer or will soon be unable to compare with the rising competitors, so it needs to shrink back from the world far away and practice internal skills.
It must be noted that the redundancy and expansion of the United States today are the result of the past hundred years mentioned above. Trump’s rare return as the “second Cleveland” means that the United States has reached a turning point from self-identification as “Spider-Man” to self-identification as “ordinary citizens”, but the historical inertia will still be very huge, and this turning point may cover several years or even more than a decade.
Even so, if there is no new world war (including cold or hot), the trend of self-identification change will be certain. Trump will step down in four years. Even if the left-wing progressives come to power again, the fire buried by MAGA will not be extinguished, and support for the contraction of the United States will become the future public opinion orientation.
The world must be carefully reorganized
Many people have studied the struggles and chaos shown in history when the “world boss” gave up his position or when the hegemonic empire withdrew. In fact, every “world boss” has a unique exit process and method, and there is no certain pattern (such as the boss and the second must have a war).
Due to the huge historical inertia, it will still take a long time for the United States to “step down” from the position of superhero. If we are lucky, the world still has time to gradually complete the reorganization without experiencing chaos. The United States has taken the initiative to stop playing the role of world policeman. A “multipolar world” that everyone has talked about for a long time but has not been implemented is really coming, but how multipolar it is and whether it will bring welfare or disaster to everyone cannot be covered up with a few words.
In history, the multipolar world is more of a vicious competition than a benign competition. The Warring States Period in the East and the continental balance in the West were always accompanied by endless wars. A multipolar world without superheroes is not necessarily a paradise. If one or some of the multipolar poles cannot let go of the opportunistic impulse of “Qin lost its deer and the heroes chased it”, disastrous consequences are also very likely.
The existing international system in which the United States plays the role of “superhero” has lasted for the life expectancy of a normal person. Modern decision-makers can only learn from books about the experience of general chaos and how to avoid it. When the world finally ushered in the long-awaited withdrawal of hegemony, what to do after “Nora’s departure” should become a topic for careful consideration by all countries, especially major countries.
As the American “Spider-Man” equates himself with “ordinary citizens”, countries that were once protected by “Spider-Man”, countries that developed smoothly in the “Spider-Man” system, and countries that were suppressed by “Spider-Man” will all get new opportunities, accompanied by new challenges. Path dependence is no longer acceptable, and now is the time for all countries to be fully alert.
