ZAP // White House; Depositphotos; In the morning, Juan O’Gorman / Wikipedia
The Aztec empire did not fall for lack of capacity; it collapsed because it accumulated too many adversaries who resented its dominance — a historic episode that US President Donald Trump should pay attention to as his rupture with traditional allies deepens.
When Aztec emissaries arrived in 1520 Tzintzuntzanthe capital of the Tarasco Kingdom in what is today the Mexican state of Michoacán, carried a warning from the Aztec emperor, Cuauhtemoc.
They warned that strange foreigners – the Spanish – had invaded the land and represented a serious threat. The emissaries requested an audience with the Tarascan ruler, known as CazonciKing Zuanga. But Zuanga had recently died, most likely from smallpox brought by the Spanish.
As Relations between the two empires were tense a long time ago. They had clashed since 1476, fighting major battles and fortifying their borders. You Tarascans saw the Aztecs as deceitful and dangerous – a threat to its very existence.
So when the emissaries arrived to speak with a king who was already dead, were sacrificed and were granted audience with him in the afterlife. At that moment, the fate of the Aztecs was sealed in blood.
The Aztec empire did not fall due to lack of capacityand. It collapsed because it accumulated too many opponents who resented his dominance.
This is a historic episode to which the US president, Donald Trumpshould pay attention as its rupture with traditional North American allies deepens, says Jay Silversteinprofessor at Nottingham Trent University, in an article in .
O general prusso Carl von Clausewitz and other philosophers of war distinguished the concepts of strength and power in relation to the art of governingnota Silverstein.
In a broad sense, power is ideological capitalbased on military strength and influence in the global political sphere. In contrast, force is the exercise of military power to coerce other nations to political will of someone.
While the Power can be sustained through a strong economyalliances and moral influence, the strength runs out. It drains resources and can erode domestic political capital as well as global influence if used in a way that is perceived as arrogant or imperialistic.
O Aztec empire formed in 1428 as a triple alliance between the city-states of Small, Developingwith Tenochtitlan ending up dominating the political structure. The empire exerted strength through seasonal military campaigns and balanced this with a power dynamics based on sacrificial displays, threats, tributes and a culture of racial superiority.
Both in the use of force and power, the Aztec empire was coercive and depended on the fear to govern. Those subjugated by the empire, and those involved in what appeared to be a perpetual warharbored great animosity and distrust towards the Aztecs. The empire was thus built on conquered and enemies waiting for the right opportunity to overthrow their masters.
Hernan Cortesthe Spanish conqueror who ended up placing much of what is now Mexico under Spanish rule, exploited this hostility. He forged alliances with Tlaxcala and other former Aztec subjects, augmenting his small Spanish force with thousands of indigenous warriors.
Cortés led this Spanish-indigenous force against the Aztecs and besieged them in Tenochtitlan. The Aztecs they only had one hope: persuade the other great power in Mexico, the Tarascan empire to the west, to join forces with them. Yours first emissaries met an unfortunate fate. So they tried again.
In 1521, Aztec envoys arrived once again in Tzintzuntzan and this time met with the new lord, Tangáxuan II. They brought captured steel weapons, a crossbow and armor to demonstrate the military threat they faced.
The Tarascan king paid attention. He sent an exploratory mission to the frontier to determine whether this was an Aztec ruse or truth. When they reached the border, found a group of chichimecasa semi-nomadic warrior people who often worked for empires to patrol borders.
When told that the mission was heading to Tenochtitlan to assess the situation, the Chichimecas responded that they arrived too late. It was now just a city of death, and they were on their way to King Tarascan to offer their services.
Tangáxuan submitted to the Spanish as a tributary kingdom the following year, before being burned alive in 1530 by Spaniards trying to find out where he had hidden gold.
If the Tarascans had maintained normal political relations with the Aztecs, they could have investigated the account of the first emissaries.
Can you imagine how the story would be different during the siege of Tenochtitlan, 40,000 Tarascan warriors, archers of renownhad come down from the mountains to the west. It is unlikely that Cortés and his army could have prevailed.
North American foreign policy
The failures of the Aztec empire were not due to lack of courage or military prowess. During their battles with the Spanish, the Aztecs repeatedly demonstrated adaptability, learning to fight horses and ships loaded with cannons.
The failure was a fundamental defect in the political strategy of the empire – it was built on coercion and fearleaving a force ready to challenge its authority when it was most vulnerable.
US foreign policy since 2025, when Trump took office for his second term, has emulated this model.
Recently, the Trump administration has been stopping support your ambitions of wealth, notoriety and to project American exceptionalism and manifest superiority.
This has manifested itself in threats or the exercise of limited force, such as tariffs or , Syria, Nigeria and . Increasingly, other nations are questioning the effectiveness of this power. Colombia, Panama, Mexico, and Mexico have largely ignored the threat of coercive power.
As Trump uses American power to demand Greenlandyour threats become increasingly weaker.
NATO nations are fulfilling their pact long-standing economic and military resolve, with its leaders saying they will not give in to pressure from Trump. You USA is being pushed into a position which they will have to go through from coercive power to coercive force.
If this course persists, military involvements, animosity of neighbors and vulnerabilities arising from the strength of other armies, economic disruptions and environmental catastrophes could very well leave the most powerful nation in the world exposed and without allies.
