US has lost its willingness and ability to provide international public goods

Currently, the United States is facing an irreconcilable contradiction: it desires to lead the world, but has lost the willingness and capability to provide public goods to the international community.

The US increasingly believes that supplying global public goods benefits other countries more than itself. It prefers a form of leadership that emphasizes rights while minimizing corresponding obligations.

This shift is not difficult to understand. Compared to the collective rise of developing countries, the US is experiencing a relative decline, manifested in the loss of its manufacturing industries, its shrinking middle class, and the intensification of its wealth inequality and political polarization. This has led to the rise of populism in the US. A country once enthusiastic about promoting globalization has begun to say no to it. Thus, contributing wisdom and strength to the development, prosperity, peace and security of the world no longer has moral appeal in Washington.

At the level of global governance, the US is shifting from a builder of multilateral rules and mechanisms to a selective user of international norms based on strategic convenience. After World War II, the US, together with several other countries, created the United Nations system and its related rules and institutions at a time when it was experiencing rising hegemonic power. It needed to use this multilateral mechanism to coordinate with other major powers and promote the global situation in a direction beneficial to itself.

Today, however, relative decline has prompted a "great reversal" in US global strategy. The United Nations system and its rule-based framework are increasingly viewed not as assets, but as constraints on strategic freedom. As a result, the US has shown growing reluctance to operate within international norms grounded in the UN Charter, and has instead favored ad hoc arrangements and unilateral actions. This reflects a defensive response to changing power dynamics, and stands in contrast to the rule-based leadership the US once promoted at the height of its hegemony.

The consequences of this shift are evident in the weakening of global political stability. Rather than reinforcing collective security and predictability, US actions have often amplified uncertainty and turbulence. Since the end of the Cold War, the US has launched or been deeply involved in numerous overseas military interventions across regions including the Middle East, the Balkans, Central Asia and parts of Africa. The frequent use of military force and sustained engagement in geopolitical confrontations have undermined the authority and credibility of international rules and multilateral institutions. A country primarily driven by hegemonic considerations is unlikely to serve as a consistent builder or guarantor of international peace, stability and security.

In global finance, the US is also retreating from its role as a provider of public goods. While the US dollar has long underpinned global liquidity and settlement, its public function has been weakened by growing politicization. Through sanctions, asset freezes and the extraterritorial application of domestic laws, dollar-based payment systems have become a source of risk rather than neutrality. These effects extend beyond political adversaries. After US sanctions on Iran were reinstated in 2018, many European companies exited the market due to dollar settlement and compliance risks, while several Southeast Asian economies have promoted local currency settlement to reduce exposure to dollar volatility.

Together, these developments suggest that the dollar is increasingly perceived as a channel of financial risk, eroding its credibility as a shared global public good. The latest statistics show that the use of the US dollar in international trade has decreased from 72 percent to 58 percent. According to the International Monetary Fund, the share of the US dollar in global foreign exchange reserves fell to 56.92 percent, its lowest level since 1995.

At the same time, the US' own economy is unlikely to escape structural difficulties in the near future. The federal government is currently in a state of insolvency, which relies desperately on the uncontrolled issuance of Treasury bonds. This is actually "robbing Peter to pay Paul". As of Jan 25, the total amount of US Treasury bonds had reached $38.6 trillion. Last year, the interest expenditure on US treasury bonds alone reached $1.4 trillion, accounting for 26.5 percent of the federal fiscal revenue. An economy marked by industrial hollowing-out, excessive financialization and increasingly irresponsible fiscal and monetary policies cannot serve as a stable engine of global growth. Instead, it has become a significant source of global economic volatility.

Technology offers another lens through which to view this transformation. Artificial intelligence, in principle, could become a powerful global public good, supporting productivity, healthcare, education and climate action. In practice, however, the US is now eager to build AI into a powerful new pillar supporting its hegemony. Therefore, it tries to monopolize AI R&D, and has launched a "new technological Cold War". In July 2025, the US government released the Winning the Race: America's AI Action Plan, stressing the necessity to ensure US dominance in the field of AI. This action plan integrates export control with ideology and "national security" into technical standards, so that the US can rally allies to create an AI technology and industrial ecosystem that excludes "hostile" countries. The US is actively introducing AI into the military field, while adopting a negative attitude toward global AI governance aimed at ensuring the peaceful and secure use of AI by all countries.

Taken together, the retreat from global public goods across governance, finance and technology has created a growing gap in the international system. As traditional providers narrow their focus toward strategic competition, the demand for stability-oriented, inclusive and development-focused public goods has not diminished. Instead, it has intensified, prompting the international community to look for alternative sources capable of sustaining cooperation, reducing systemic risks and supporting long-term development.

China is playing an increasingly important role as a contributor of global public goods, through development, security, civilization and governance initiatives, as well as infrastructure connectivity, green technology and open technological platforms. The growing demand for its public goods reflects a broader international search for stability, predictability and development-oriented cooperation.

The transition toward a more multipolar world makes the provision of public goods more important than ever. Leadership today is no longer defined by military reach or financial leverage alone, but by the ability to generate shared benefits, manage global risks and support sustainable development.

The author is the former Consul General of China in Rio de Janeiro. The author contributed this article to China Watch, a think tank powered by China Daily.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

Contact the editor at editor@chinawatch.cn.