International relations scholar and former Director of the Legon Centre for International Affairs, Professor Vladimir Antwi Danso, has criticised the approach adopted by former US President Donald Trump in his efforts to restore America’s dominance on the global stage, describing it as fundamentally misguided.
Speaking on Channel One TV’s The Point of View during a discussion on geopolitics, global tensions and Trump on Wednesday, January 14, Professor Antwi Danso argued that the United States’ increasingly aggressive projection of power and democratic values has begun to undermine its own strategic interests.
According to him, Washington’s long-standing dependence on diplomatic pressure, alliance cohesion and sweeping sanctions to compel other nations into compliance has produced unintended consequences, triggering resistance rather than submission.
He noted that countries once sidelined within the global order, particularly China and Russia, are now reassessing their influence and repositioning themselves on the world stage—a development he said is creating frustration for Trump as global economic power begins to shift.
Professor Antwi Danso also highlighted growing challenges to the dominance of the US dollar, pointing out that more countries are actively exploring alternatives to dollar-denominated trade. He cited Saudi Arabia’s recent move away from exclusive dollar transactions, despite its historic 1974 agreement with the United States that laid the foundation for the petrodollar system.
“The forceful nature of America’s thrust into the world with their democracy and their domineering character is now balancing back against them,” he said, explaining that years of sanctions, diplomatic pressure and alliance enforcement have generated global pushback.
He added that the re-emergence of China and Russia as assertive global players, combined with the gradual erosion of dollar supremacy, has intensified Trump’s desire to reassert American authority.
“It is these developments that are irritating Trump and pushing him to want to bring America back to dominance,” Professor Antwi Danso observed. “But the methodology being used is wrong—extremely wrong.”
The expert warned that without a shift in strategy, attempts to reclaim global supremacy through coercion rather than cooperation could further weaken America’s influence in an increasingly multipolar world.
