In his first year as president,Donald Trump has torn at a thread running through international affairs for 75 years -- the idea of the United States as a predictable bastion of global stability and champion of Western values.
Trump, with bull-in-a-Twitter-feed diplomacy reflecting his impulsive, combative character, has turned the United States into an unpredictable and disruptive force. His attitude is born of a belief in keeping his enemies -- and friends -- off balance and rooted in his view that the rest of the world is exploiting America and his belief that the burdens of US leadership are too costly.
Trump's smoldering rhetoric, disdain for multilateral diplomacy, distrust of trade deals and apparent racial and religious prejudices have changed the kind of behavior the world expects from a US president.
Trump maintains that his leadership is clearing up a global "mess" he inherited, and "America is being respected again abroad."
Yet his directional shift has compromised America's image abroad, left the world uncertain about US policy on key issues and has allied leaders foundering as they work out whether flattering, appeasing, teaching or ignoring Trump works best.
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