When political legitimacy becomes contingent on recognition by a superpower, populations lose their right to self-determination and democracy becomes a selective tool.
The Washington Post Guild, the staff union, questioned Bezos' commitment, saying that if he is no longer willing to invest in its mission, the institution needs a steward who understands it.
The rise of transactional unilateral diplomacy—most visibly associated with U.S. President Donald Trump—has exposed structural vulnerabilities in the alliance system.
Trump, grandson of a German immigrant, is particularly peeved at an independent South Africa, which was the worst example of a Western supremacist-cum-colonial mindset.