Across the capitals of America’s closest allies — from Ottawa and Tokyo to Brussels, Canberra and Seoul — a dangerous geopolitical narrative has taken root. Frustrated by the transactionalism, abrasive rhetoric and economic coercion of U.S. President Donald Trump, many policymakers argue it's time to “de-Trump-a-tize” their foreign policies. Some advocate diversifying ties toward authoritarian states; others suggest distancing themselves from a U.S. that scholar Stephen Walt, writing recently in Foreign Affairs, called a “predatory hegemon.”

But let’s be clear, arguing that middle powers need to get closer to the U.S. is not the same as endorsing Trump or his policies. It is a recognition of geopolitical reality. Distancing oneself from Washington is not a sophisticated strategy; it is a retreat. By binding themselves closer to the U.S., allies can affect its policies from the inside. If they aren’t part of the conversation, they can’t shape the outcome.

The famed foreign-policy scholar and practitioner Henry Kissinger understood this fundamental truth of statecraft. In the 1970s, Kissinger and then U.S. President Richard Nixon engaged with China out of sheer geopolitical necessity to balance and eventually contain the Soviet Union. It was a calculated bargain. The U.S. and its allies — including Japan — benefited from this engagement by opening their ports to cheap goods made in China that fueled economic growth, expanded their export markets and pushed globalization forward.

© The Japan Times