The United States cannot play an active role on the global stage without the resources and political will to do so, but both are in increasingly short supply these days, said a visiting North-east Asia expert on Thursday (Nov 09).

This trend, however, seem unlikely to be reversed because of political forces in the US, said Dr Richard Bush of the Brookings Institution think-tank.

US President Donald Trump, who ignited a new round in a longstanding debate on the wisdom of US activism, is merely a symptom of deeper political trends, he added.

… He set out his case for this prognosis in a public lecture organised by the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, a year and a day since Mr Trump was elected President.

It was attended by about 50 students, academics and diplomats.