🇺🇸 The End of the Unconditional Guarantor of Democracy: The United States Transitions from Mission to Contract

 “For too long, the United States, as an ally, has borne a disproportionately large share of the burden of obligations, but starting today this will change. President Trump — dear Donald — you made this change possible… We will invest trillions more in our common defense, making us stronger and fairer.”

For many, this sounded like a polite gesture toward the new U.S. president. But behind this phrase lies much more than protocol courtesy. It was a political articulation of a deep civilizational shift: America is ceasing to be the unconditional protector of democracy — not because it cannot, but because it no longer sees the point in doing so without compensation.

America, once the beacon of global order, is stepping back from the role of an unquestioned guarantor of democracy, making a conscious choice — renouncing strategic altruism in favor of a pragmatic reevaluation of its global role. This transition, like the shifting of tectonic plates, exposes new fractures in the architecture of global security, where ideals give way to deals, and principles to profit.

The End of the Selfless Hegemon Era

After 1945, the United States didn’t merely win the war — it won the right to dictate the world order. And after the collapse of the USSR, America became not only a superpower but the architect of global governance.

American hegemony was not colonial domination, but something far more complex: a projection of power embedded within institutions. Military might, economic influence, and soft power were combined with a mission to institutionalize freedom. The United States supported international alliances, financed institutions, and promoted democracy — using its own resources, without expecting immediate returns. This was strategic altruism, where America assumed the role not only of a leader but a guarantor who ensured stability even when it came at an asymmetrical cost.

The U.S. maintained military bases around the world, financed global organizations, and promoted democratic rhetoric and technologies — not always ideologically monolithic, but with almost automatic responsibility.

But this order became a burden. Allies accustomed to the American “security umbrella” increasingly failed to take proportional responsibility. The U.S. became a benefactor whose costs exceeded its dividends. The fatigue so often spoken of is not the exhaustion of strength, but the disillusionment with a role that offers no tangible reward.

In the Trump era, this sentiment crystallized into a new political ethos: “America First” — a rejection of doing things for the idea without clear compensation.

The Dismantling of Hegemonic Infrastructure: America No Longer Acts “For the Idea”

Since Trump’s presidency, the United States has been gradually transforming from a global guarantor of international order into a broker of power. This is neither classic isolationism nor a refusal to lead — it is a renunciation of obligation. America no longer acts out of moral duty or historic mission — only out of pragmatic calculation.

The reduction of funding for soft power channels — USAGM, Voice of America, RFE/RL — symbolizes the abandonment of the moral narrative that America once broadcast to the world. This is not merely budgetary austerity, but the end of an era in which the U.S. believed it was its duty to carry the idea of freedom to places where it was not requested. These instruments once transmitted “American truth” to the most remote corners of the globe. Now they seem unnecessary.

Freedom of speech is no longer accessible — unless someone pays for it.
Even NATO, once a projection of American will, is transforming into a “collective” structure where the U.S. is no longer willing to be the sole sponsor.

America now reimagines itself not as the shepherd of global order, but as a broker of power. It offers resources — weapons, technologies, support — but only on the condition of mutual benefit. This is market logic, where security becomes a commodity, not a universal right.

The U.S. does not renounce power, but renounces unconditionality — the automatic reaction to violations of values or attacks on allies.

America has not weakened. It has simply grown tired of being a guarantor with no gain. As the Romans said: onus sine honor — a burden without honors.

The Dangerous Vacuum: A World Without a Guarantor

This transformation occurs at a time when the world is balancing on the edge of new challenges. Russia returns to nuclear blackmail. China builds a global network of economic dependence. Iran expands its influence in the Middle East. At this critical juncture, America is dismantling the old system of guarantees without offering a new one.

The resulting power vacuum is not synonymous with multipolarity or justice — it is an arena of anarchy, where the strong dictate the rules, and the weak are left unprotected.

The rejection of unconditionality cancels predictability. At the moment when the old system loses its architect, a new one does not yet exist. And this is not a transition to a fairer world — it is a vacuum in which rules are no longer mandatory, and agreements no longer durable.

Without the U.S. as guarantor, democracy becomes an option, not a norm.
 This is a world where values — democracy, freedom, human rights — lose their status as universal principles and become options on a geopolitical menu.

Effectively, the United States is creating a multi-tiered market of fear, where security is no longer a right, but a service with a price list.

Market Instead of Mission

America is not disappearing from the global arena — it is changing its role. Its power remains, but now it is the power of a participant, not a moderator.

The emerging world is not a new order, but a contractual chaos where security is available only to those who can pay for it.

Europe is unprepared to replace the U.S. as guarantor of security.
China avoids global responsibility.
Russia spreads instability.
Other players are forced to seek new patrons in a fragmented world.

This transition — from hegemony as mission to hegemony as business — exposes the fragility of the modern world.

Freedom, once a value supported by American power, now becomes a bargaining chip. And in this new market of fear, no one is ready to assume the role that America has relinquished.

The new image of the U.S. is that of a broker. It is not leaving the stage.
It is moving to the negotiating table — not as an arbiter, but as an interested party. It can supply weapons, influence, money — but only within a beneficial deal. It no longer dictates the rules — it negotiates them.

This means not just a transformation of strategy but a change in America’s civilizational self-perception.
The world is no longer worth saving simply because “it’s right.”
Now it is an invoice — and someone must pay it.

Why Is This Dangerous?

Because this transformation happens precisely when authoritarian regimes are becoming strategically active.
When Russia again resorts to nuclear blackmail.
When China forges regional alliances based on infrastructure and dependence.
When Iran is building a new axis of influence in the Middle East.

And at this same moment, America is dismantling the old system — without creating a new one.

This opens a power vacuum that will not remain empty.
 And those who speak of a “transition to multipolarity” often forget that a vacuum is always a zone of competition, not of justice.

That America no longer guarantees security does not mean anyone else will guarantee freedom.

Instead of a Conclusion: A Fairy Tale Without a Hero

America has not lost its power — but it has relinquished the crown of hegemon.
Like in an ancient tale where the hero leaves the battlefield without passing on the sword, the world stands before uncertainty.

This is not a story of decline, but of choice: the U.S. has decided that its power will no longer serve ideals without clear returns.

And in this new world, where rules are replaced by deals, and guarantees by contracts, freedom risks becoming a luxury — available only to those who can pay for it.

Europe does not yet understand what is happening.
It lived too long under the American umbrella and grew accustomed to this luxury.
China does not want to be a global policeman — only a factory.
Russia does not seek order — on the contrary, it embraces chaos as a method of governance.
But no one is ready to replace the guarantor.

America has left the game — not as a loser.
It simply changed the rules.
And in this game, the rules are now up for negotiation — not the foundation of justice.

And what is crucial to understand is this:
America consciously refused to be the unconditional guarantor precisely at the moment when the world needs it most.
It refused — because right now, its value as guarantor is at its peak.
Its “shares,” so to speak, are at their highest.

🔚 The moral of this transformation is not that the U.S. will disappear as a power.
It remains.
But not for everyone, not everywhere, and not always.

History has not ended for the world — it has ended for the mission.
And without a mission, only instruments remain.
And whoever controls them, sets the price of freedom.