The most unpredictable factor

Can anybody trust the United States anymore? It's getting increasingly difficult. Watching what is happening in Washington these days, it's hard to know exactly what we're looking at: a poor imitation of drama series "House of Cards" or a page out of tome by a future Edward Gibbon titled "The History of the Decline and Fall of the American Empire."
Donald Trump's election to the presidency had a certain logic. Much of what he says would constitute a necessary correction of American policy. But his tactics have been tragic. The back-pedaling, the paranoid personal style and the complete collapse of decision-making mechanisms have gobbled up a huge chunk of American credibility and influence. And if he is re-elected, this downward course will not be reversible. In the words of a prominent European leader responding to the question of his greatest nightmare while talking to a...