The elements to consider are military, economic and moral.The international rules-based order that was introduced after the Second World War was based on the UN, NATO and the hegemony of the United States. This in turn relied upon its military power, its economic dominance and what it sold to the World as a strong moral code. The last of these has been enthusiastically abandoned.President Donald Trump has, from the first, expressed his intention to Put America First, which he has done, often ruthlessly, if not with great competence. The US has thus ceased to see itself as part of a consortium of nations with ‘western’ views on, for example, race, gender, international co-operation and the rule of law.The recent saga surrounding the so-called ‘Epstein files’ is being used by Trump’s opponents to highlight aspects of his personality and behaviour that were well known to his supporters and others long before his first presidency. It is not clear that the majority of Americans care. Certainly, with the re-election of Trump and his subsequent bullying of those who would be America’s friends, the U.S. has declared its abandonment of moral leadership in the World.Militarily, the situation is complex. Technologically, its military continues to advance apace. In the hands of Ukraine, its weapons have decimated the vast pool of military hardware that Russia had accumulated over generations. The only country that looks to have the military resources to match it is China, but that may be a carefully crafted illusion. There are a number of reasons that China has not supplied Putin with weapons, not least that he might steal the technology and turn it against them in the future; there may also be a fear that even their best weaponry might be overmatched.But there is also the question of will. Trump is very keen on threat, but less so on action, with his planes attacking Iran only when it was rendered defenceless. For all of the empty rhetoric of America pivoting to the Pacific, Taiwan must be nervous that its supposed US ally may not be there in a time of crisis.The American military is also enormously expensive. Earlier empires have been overwhelmed by the sheer cost of military dominance. For modern-day America, this is disguised for the moment by its hugely successful IT companies. Trump likes the swagger of owning a big stick, but history tells us that this cannot last.Beyond software and the military, American traditional manufacturing is no longer a dominant force. Far from it. Trump recognises this and is using the least subtle of methods – tariffs – to try and revive it. This is fighting a clear historic trend. This is a Canute who actually believes that he can turn back the tide. It is also the kind of cure that may well kill the patient.Brazil, Russia, India and China, the BRICs nations, are not natural bedfellows, with diverse political philosophies. They subscribe to the ancient doctrine that my enemy’s enemy is my friend. Three of these are outpacing the West in their industrial growth. The odd man out is Putin’s Russia, which maintains a seat at the table only by supplying the others with cut-price oil that its war means it now cannot sustain.The others have been encouraged by Trumpian braggadocio to join together and thereby to gain increasing influence on the other emergent economies of the global south. Pressing Europe to develop militarily will also undermine U.S. hegemony. In each of our three categories, Trump is reducing American influence, and hastening its decline.