Middle powers such as Australia relied on the rules-based order, but that's in doubt. Here's what we must do

The iconoclastic news whirlwind around Donald Trump points to a new US approach on the international stage: globalism and free trade are out. Spheres of influence are back in vogue. It's not isolationism, it's transactional mercantilism. But with Australia heavily invested in its US relationship we need to calmly undertake a net assessment: to weigh up what's at stake while looking to engage with our region more fully. We should have seen this coming US globalism has been soured by the effects of catastrophic wars in the Middle East since 2001, coupled with the 2008 global financial crisis, a drug…