In moments of geopolitical transition, the most revealing signals are rarely found in formal declarations or signed agreements. They appear instead in tone, instinct, and assumption ~ in how power speaks when it believes it need not explain itself. Recent statements and conduct by US President Donald Trump before and after Davos have offered such moments, casting light on how alliances function when confidence in their permanence begins to fade. The controversy itself was narrow, even peculiar, and unlikely to produce lasting change on its own. Yet the reaction it provoked exposed a deeper unease among long-standing partners.

The concern was not over a specific demand, but over the mindset behind it ~ a view of international relations that treats influence as leverage alone, stripped of history, obligation, or shared purpose. Such thinking marks a sharp departure from the logic that has guided alliances for decades. Security partnerships were never meant to resemble........

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