Nick Bisley writes in The Conversation (10.11.16) about the uncertain implications of a Trump Presidency for the Asian region, and (by association) Australia’s links with both that region and the United States.
‘No mainstream observer expected this. Donald Trump was not supposed to win the GOP primary, let alone the White House. Yet, here we are.
‘This was always an election that would favour a change candidate, but conventional wisdom said that the reality TV star was not plausible in a general election. But he turned his complete lack of political experience into a huge advantage.
‘The fact that Trump was light on policy detail while on the stump, and that he contradicted himself on an almost daily basis, means that we have very little to go on when trying to ascertain what a Trump presidency will mean for Asia.
‘… Trump’s election brings [an era of US-China ‘accommodation’] firmly to a close. Quite where he will go, we simply do not know. This in itself is a break with the past. When one adds that to Trump’s disruptive instincts, get set for a much more contested and unstable region.
‘Asia’s international politics have entered uncharted waters.’
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