How Much Harm Donald Trump Does to the Entire World: The US and EU No Longer Have the Moral Right to Preach Democracy

The foundation of the West is crumbling - that is what the planned participation of leaders from Russia, North Korea, Iran, and Myanmar at China's "Victory Day” military parade on September 3 in Beijing (commemorating the end of World War II after Japan's surrender) is meant to symbolize. And that is already happening today and tomorrow, at the SCO summit in Tianjin.

Western hegemony was not built only on military and economic power but also on a moral halo: democracy, human rights, the free market - elevated to the rank of "universal values.”

Under this banner, the US and the European Union justified their global expansion, interventions, and sanctions.

They never said: "We are doing this for our own interest” but always: "We are doing this for freedom.”

But what happens when the preacher himself turns out to be a sinner?

Donald Trump abandons international commitments at will, treats his own democracy like clay, and pushes forward with expansionist plans, modeled after Russia.

Europe preaches democracy but turns a blind eye to internal backsliding in Hungary (which also likes to appear on the opposite list) and strikes big deals with authoritarian monarchies in the Gulf.

Twenty years of "exporting democracy” in Iraq and Afghanistan have left behind ruins and fragile regimes.

The normative legitimacy of the West - what made it not only the strongest but also the "most just” - has eroded.

When you preach values you do not respect, you are no longer a priest but an impostor.

Putin Became a Global Leader - Simply by Conquering Territories and Slaughtering Ukrainians

The contestation of Western hegemony became visible with Russia's invasion of Ukraine:

-the European security architecture, presented by the US and EU as stable, was shaken;

-the principle of inviolability of borders in Europe was broken;

-the international order led by the West proved vulnerable.

Vladimir Putin did not become a global leader of defiance through a declared strategy, but through the effects of his aggression: other states dissatisfied with US and European dominance saw in his gesture proof that the Western order was no longer untouchable.

Thus, what at first seemed like Russia's dangerous adventure turned into a precedent: the West can be challenged, and its hegemony is no longer seen as invincible.

The West Defends Interests, Not Values

Donald Trump's political cynicism - abandoning international agreements, using sanctions not as moral instruments but as transactional weapons, and even contesting American democracy itself - showed the world that the West no longer has the moral authority to lecture others.

How can you invoke democracy when the US president refuses to recognize the election results in his own country

How can you preach about human rights when Europe, hypocritically, signs strategic contracts with medieval regimes in the Gulf?

Trump has made visible a moral void many suspected: the West defends interests, not values.

The Axis of Destabilization and China's Umbrella

Into this void steps what analysts fearfully call the "axis of destabilization”: Russia, Iran, North Korea, Myanmar - flanked by China. These regimes are not democracies, nor do they want to be. But that is precisely why they can say: "We don't accept lessons from hypocrites. Your order is selective and double-standard.”

Thus, the contestation of Western hegemony becomes legitimate in the eyes of the Global South.

Not because Russia or Iran are models, but because the West has lost its moral aura.

The "axis of destabilization” gains real weight now that it lines up under China's umbrella.

Russia, Iran, North Korea, and Myanmar, taken separately, are just marginalized problem states. Even together, they would not constitute a credible alternative. But when Xi Jinping embraces them under his protection, everything changes: Beijing becomes the economic, diplomatic, and strategic pivot that transforms them from isolated rebels into a systemic challenge.

The Global South - The Critical Mass of Contestation

The Global South includes states from Asia (excluding Japan and South Korea), Africa, Latin America, and parts of the Middle East. In other words, regions once called the "Third World” during the Cold War, but which today account for nearly 85% of the world's population, over 40% of global GDP (and growing fast), and about 80% of the planet's mineral and energy resources.

This includes India, Brazil, Indonesia, South Africa, Mexico, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Argentina, and many others that no longer find themselves in the Western-led order.

This bloc is not homogeneous, but it has one common interest: asserting autonomy and breaking the Western monopoly over norms and institutions.

What seemed like just an "axis of destabilization” is turning into the visible tip of a much broader wave.

If this critical mass of states finds an organizing bond - and China is already offering itself as the pivot - Western hegemony will not just be contested, but could be abolished across all domains: military, financial, commercial, technological, and cultural.

The right question is not: "How can Russia, Iran, North Korea, or Myanmar challenge democracy?”

But rather: "How can the US and EU still hide behind democracy, when in fact they are defending hegemony?”

The "axis of destabilization” threatens a system of power collapsing under its own duplicity.

And the uncomfortable truth is that the movement was triggered by Putin through his war of conquest - and made credible by Trump, who drained the West of its moral legitimacy.

A New Majority Emerging

Under the camouflage of this movement of reclaiming dignity against the West, crimes and plunder take place that no one prevents or sanctions anymore, unless it serves their interest.

What once seemed like a marginal rebellion of authoritarian regimes has transformed into a global majority - the Global South - discovering its strength and seeking organization.

And today and tomorrow, in Tianjin, it may find it - and achieve coordination to change the international order, with China as its spearhead.

Can China become the vector of principled international relations?