Running Riot on American Exceptionalism – By Kaia Hubbard (US News) / January 11, 2021
The deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol has many countries — and Americans themselves — questioning the U.S. standing in the world.
AS CONGRESS GATHERED ON Jan. 6 to confirm the Electoral College votes, supporters of Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol in a deadly display that threatened the nation’s democratic principles, both procedurally and symbolically, as the world watched.
Now, in an apparent effort to reassure global leaders, the U.S. State Department has reportedly issued guidance to its diplomats in their communications with foreign leaders, according to CNN, on language to use to assure foreign capitals that President-elect Joe Biden will be inaugurated on Jan. 20.
But beyond the events of Jan. 6, American exceptionalism itself is perhaps under scrutiny on a global scale. According to some political analysts, the top geopolitical risk of 2021 boils down to U.S. political polarization, which they published in a report two days before the U.S. Capitol was attacked.
“People are horrified, but they’re not surprised.” Gerald Butts, vice chairman of the Eurasia Group, a risk assessment company, said of the global reaction he’s seen since Jan. 6. “Policymakers see this as a very predictable extension of U.S. domestic politics in the Trump era: extreme polarization, violent rhetoric, the lack of cohesion; coming together around the winner in the election’s aftermath. A lot of countries have seen this movie before.”
