NEW YORK, January 13. /TASS/. In the past two years, Washington has lost its status of the most important actor on the international arena, and it will be incredibly hard for it to regain it, former US ambassador to NATO, Yvo Daalder, has told CNN in an interview.
"In 2017...the United States was a major, major presence in the mind of global leaders. It mattered what the US thought, did, or didn't do. I'm not clear that in 2021, the world's leaders will still be thinking about what the United States is going to do," Daalder said.
According to the expert, the decisions made by US President Donald Trump create a vacuum of authority on the international arena, and other countries, first of all China, are prepared to fill the void.
He also said that his country paid little attention to engaging in major trade agreements under the current administration, while other states are taking an active part.
After US President Donald Trump was inaugurated in 2017, the United States has quitted a series of important international agreements in politics, economy, environment and culture or started to review them. Those deals include the Paris Climate Agreement, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran’s nuclear program, the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Washington also announced its withdrawal from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), cut its contributions to the UN and said it would unilaterally review the terms of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). In October 2018, Trump said his country would quit the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty with Russia.