Defending Western
Values
Time
for an International Front Against Trump
With
the inauguration of Donald Trump as U.S. president, America is set to
move into a more isolationist and more self-interested direction. The
rest of the West must now stand up to defend our values.
A Commentary by
Ullrich Fichtner
January 20, 2017
06:02 PM
Our current times
have all of the elements of a good television series, but they are
not the kinds of things you want to see in real life. Behind every
corner there's a juicy surprise, a sudden change, a shock.
China's president is
now apparently the foremost proponent of free trade, who would have
thought. The British prime minister is eschewing compromise in Brexit
negotiations in favor of a full break. In France, the right-wing
populists are dangerously close to power and same is true in the
Netherlands. In Germany? Who knows? And Trump? He crowns everything,
with a fat "T" embossed in extra-thick gold. NATO?
"Obsolete." Merkel and Putin? Six of one, half-dozen of the
other. BMW? Can start saving for punitive tariffs. The Iran
agreement? A scrap of paper. Trump talks like a caricature of a
used-car salesman who sees the world as a marketplace for Donald's
great deals.
We need to prepare
ourselves for the following: From now on, the most powerful person on
the planet, along with his entourage made up primarily of
billionaires like himself, will be regularly stomping on that which
the international community has spent decades negotiating with effort
and care. Who thinks, for example, that Trump's troupe will feel
bound to the Paris Climate Agreement for the reduction of greenhouse
gases? That anybody in the White House will still care for the
protection of animals, oceans or forests? That Trump could have any
priority other than maximizing his own profits? Does anyone think he
will support culture? Strengthen women's rights? Show consideration
for minorities? That he would be willing to think about the limits of
capitalism? Of course he won't.
Once it has pushed
Islamic State further into retreat, the U.S. will withdraw as far as
possible from its role as the world's protective power. There have
been similar phases in American history, periods of isolation and
self-interest, and we are likely headed for another. America has
always been the standard bearer for Western values, even if it hasn't
always managed to abide by them itself, but now the country will send
those values into hibernation. From now on, there is a risk that
active global policy might primarily consist of Trump, in the middle
of lonely nights, inciting diplomatic crises on Twitter -- insulting
the Chinese, provoking India and denigrating Europeans.
It's Time to Defend
Our Principles
This won't be fun.
It reflects a new American desire for the survival of the fittest --
in a world where the U.S. is still the strongest. Trump's government
won't strive for global compromise, opting instead to try to get the
most it can out of negotiations with individual nations. This
president will do everything he can to weaken international
organizations like the UN, the EU or the G-20 in order to make space
for bilateral deals -- just like his counterpart in the Kremlin.
Maybe this will allow him to achieve a small American economic
miracle, but a great many will pay the price: more global inequality,
unchecked climate change and, in his own country, an even more
jittery society with marginalized minorities.
The depth of the
ultimate tragedy will depend on how quickly the opposition forms.
Even the power of a U.S. president is not unlimited. He isn't an
absolute ruler, answerable to no one. Trump will be faced with the
strength of civil society, the intelligence of his opponents, the
courage of American citizens. This president cannot allow himself
even the smallest litigable mistake for fear of being chased out of
office.
Until then, the rest
of the world needs to get to work to block American machinations
against international standards, to ward off unfair American economic
greed and to protect global agreements. What's needed is a front
against Trump.
The UN will need to
show that it can be a countervailing power in the civil sphere and an
advocate for its especially vulnerable members. The European Union
should see Trump as a new justification for its existence and make
the best of it. It's very possible that previously unthinkable
constellations might emerge -- that Europe and China, for example,
could act in concert on some issues. Impossible? That's what we
thought. But in the now-dawning Trump world, it's not about believing
or about hoping. We have no choice but to forcefully defend our
interests and our principles.
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