The loss of US influence is accelerating. Is this down to the Trump effect? Yes, particularly among allies, but there’s more to it than that. The trend is longstanding and widespread, and points to a fundamental feature of hegemonic cycles: the decline of a power does not simply come down to a change in the balance of power; it has its roots in a crisis within the political and institutional model that...

It may appear surprising that the spectacular abduction by the United States of Nicolás Maduro – a flagrant violation of the United Nations Charter – has unleashed only the faintest of financial shockwaves. Not only did markets easily absorb this event, they immediately wanted to know what would happen next. There has been no massive flight to safe assets, no financial dislocation, no lasting pressure on...