George Hahn

On the one hand, he's a serious statesman.

On the other hand, his opposite number is Donald Trump.

Regardless, the Chinese see blood in the water, even if American leadership won't acknowledge we appear to be committing superpower suicide.

In January, a Beijing think tank published a report called Thank Trump, which concluded that tariffs, attacks on allies, anti-immigration policies, and the president's war against American institutions have strengthened China while weakening the U.S.

Citing polarization, government dysfunction, and Latin American-style instability, the report's authors labeled Trump an accelerator of American political decay.

A decade ago, our priority was to manage the Thucydides trap such that we maintained our leadership of the rules-based world order, avoided conflict, and increased global prosperity.

Today, we're riding shotgun with a president who never met an American interest he didn't seek to monetize.

Superpowers don't die when adversaries breach the gates.

They die when the people inside start auctioning off the gates.

I write often about what we're losing by dismantling the rules-based order, less often about the cost of building it in the first place.

It's Memorial Day weekend in the U.S., a holiday meant to honor those who died serving our country, though most Americans observe it by barbecuing, drinking, and shopping.

Pulling down the U.S.-led order robs our children of their future.

But it also demeans the memory of American sons and daughters who gave what Lincoln called the last full measure of devotion.

Shame on Trump.

Shame on his enablers.

And shame on us if we fail to pull the country off of Trump's auction block.

Welcome to The Week from Prof G Media, where we break down what mattered and what it all means.

I'm George Hahn, and it's Friday, May 22nd.

This week, we talked a lot about rules.

Rules around war, rules around markets, rules around political power, and what happens when people making decisions stop following them.