TRUMP SHAKES US POLICIES

It was once conventional wisdom in Washington that the prospect of assuming command of US foreign relations would force Donald Trump to tone down the shoot-from-the-hip style of his campaign. Instead, undaunted, he has ploughed on as before, breaking diplomatic taboos, unsettling America's friends and foes alike. 

NUCLEAR ARMS RACE

On Thursday, Trump launched a solo bid to restart the Cold War arms race, Tweeting: "The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes." Outgoing US leader President Barack Obama won a Nobel Prize for his vision, expressed in a famous 2009 speech in Prague, of a world without nuclear weapons. Trump threw it out in fewer than 140 characters.

ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT

Trump has already made his intentions clear. Frustrated at the failure of the Middle East peace process, US on Friday refrained from vetoing the adoption of a Security Council measure calling on Israel to halt settlement activities in Palestinian territory. US President-elect on Friday vowed that the country's policies at the United Nations will change after he takes office. "As to the UN, things will be different after Jan 20th," he said on Twitter, referring to the date of his inauguration.

RELATIONSHIP WITH CHINA

Until now, Washington refrained from overtly challenge Beijing's core interests.  For four decades Washington's stance towards the Asian giant has been determined by the framework agreed by president Richard Nixon on his famous opening to Beijing: "One China." But Trump is not impressed. "I don't know why we have to be bound by a One China policy unless we make a deal with China having to do with other things, including trade," Trump said last week.