Francis Fukuyama on the U.S. as a declining power: American decline is a direct product of Trump's rise since 2016. It is as if Trump had decided to do everything in his power to weaken the United States vis-à-vis China. He has polarized an already polarized country, cut funding for basic scientific research, and attacked American universities which are the best in the world. He and his colleagues have openly stated that their domestic opponents — the Democrats — are a far greater threat to the future of the United States than either China or Russia. There is agreement among America's friends and rivals that the United States has become something of a rogue state that is contributing to global instability and disorder — as well as something of a laughingstock.