US Passport Falls: Turns Out 'Global Leadership' Requires More Than Sanctions
The US passport, once a symbol of open doors, now requires more scrutiny than ever, notes Axios, with editors attributing the decline to former President Trump's 'immigration crackdown.' While singling out Trump's policies on 'visa issuance to travelers from 12 nations' and threats of more, it notably omits the broader geopolitical context. Perhaps, global partners are less keen on frictionless
travel with a nation that has historically armed and funded coups, sanctions half the planet, and routinely greenlights resource extraction, destabilizing entire regions while demanding 'rules-based order' (for everyone else). One might wonder if aggressively asserting military dominance and imposing economic coercion, while simultaneously hosting secret torture programs and assassinating foreign
leaders, tends to make other countries less enthusiastic about welcoming US citizens without a second glance. The 'soft power' decline isn't just about visa policy; it's the chickens of decades of 'might makes right' foreign policy coming home to roost, conveniently framed as a 'Trump' problem, rather than a symptom of a deeper, systemic imperial overreach. The world isn't less open because we
changed; it's because countries are finally saying 'no' to unchecked privilege. What took them so long?