@blatham,
The late Tony Judt was an excellent historian whose chief work was a comprehensive history of Europe since WWII. I believe he foresaw the coming demise of the "End of History" view of the world that attended the collapse of the Soviet Empire (Recall Francis Fukuyama's ~1992 book) . It was indeed an ephemeral state of affairs, as most people with a long view of history correctly saw. There have been repeated like events in our history generally following the end of an extended period of real or near conflict between rival powers or alliances. They generally don't last very long as human nature and rivalries quickly restore the normal trajectory of human affairs. We can see the fruits of it today in the rise of national priorities within the EU and the renewal of old rivalries in the world, from Russia (where Putin looks more like a new version of Nicholas I every day) to the reawakened Persian Empire, and, of course, China.
All this has been developing steadily over the past two decades and there is nothing either surprising or particularly associated with recent trends in the USA in it. Instead it is the normal trajectory of history. It is an error to look at everything through the lens of your favorite conspiracy theories. There is much more to the world than that.
