…seen from the other side of the world.  Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has a perspective.

Every one of America’s important trading partners in Asia, he points out, now has China as its “biggest trading partner.”  These nations know they will have a freer and more open trading system if America, not China, is writing the rules.

And

What makes it all so twisted [the debate over the TPP], says Mr Lee, is that no one in Asia is rooting for an American retreat.  To the contrary, Asian leaders are eager to make America great again….

And

“Your role,” says Mr Lee, “remains indispensable, whether you are prepared to step up to it or whether you decide to chuck it.”

And one last bit, which might seem self-serving but, even were it so, is no less true for that:

…you are wealthy enough and resilient enough to be able to help those who are buffeted and to take advantage of the opportunities which are out there, rather than say “I don’t want the competition….”