Pakistan, Aug. 29 -- Strange as it may sound, I find myself wishing Donald Trump another presidential term.

Not because I admire his style. Nor because I believe the world needs more disruption. Rather because Trump, perhaps more than any American president in recent memory, has accelerated historical processes that were already underway but remained partially concealed beneath the rhetoric of American leadership.

Great powers are rarely defeated by their enemies alone. More often, they are weakened by their own overconfidence, strategic misjudgments, and inability to adapt to changing realities. The British Empire had Suez. The Soviet Union had Gorbachev. The United States may well have Donald Trump.

This is not an argument that Ameri...