Premises
of Trump’s foreign policy orientation and future of international order – A
study in Trumpism!
-Dr. Abdul Ruff
______
Today’s
international order is being decided almost entirely by US super power - at
least by and large.
In
fact, international order since the World War II, though launched b y
Germany, is being controlled and regulated by USA while Europe and bulk of
Asian nations lend support for this arrangement made after the WW-II.
Needless
to say that veto power USA enjoys has been major reason for American prowess,
though there are four more states that enjoy the super status, viz UK, France,
Russia and China. Awkwardly, USA has misused the veto in order to shield
the crimes perpetuated by Israeli regime that follows fascist ideology of old
Nazi Germany which eventually had been attacked by Russia but soon divided into
zones by USA and Russia.
US
precedent wields enormous power to control not just the USA but also entire
world. Ronald Trump who has been elected president would so from January
20 when he formally assures power in Washington as undisputed world leader.
World of Donald Trump
Since the day Donald Trump, disrupter-in-chief and disaster speculator, announced
his campaign 18 months ago, he has flouted convention at nearly every turn –
and so far, has come out ahead. To be the US president in three weeks time,
Trump has opted out of most the decades-long practice for presidents-elect,
including sitting for near-daily intelligence briefings, raising questions
about his interest in mastering complex global issues.
Trump has been elected the US president to chair the world affairs when foreign
policy everywhere begins to seem an elite dogma, rather than a collective
choice, as a reflection of national consciousness. Arrival of Trump and victory
for Brexit are seen to be negative consequence of ugly imperialism as they have
crossed the limits of conventional wisdom and would “pull down the pillars” of
liberal internationalism and retreat USA and EU into isolation.
World continues since the end of WW-II to be regulated by US made intentional
order to which every big nation as well tries to adhere, making its policies a
part of US imagination.
Americans weary of outsourced jobs and continuing war are entitled to ask what
they are getting in return without being written off as isolationists. By
repudiating American exceptionalism, Trump has unintentionally invited the
country to reimagine its place in the world—to find a vision, perhaps, one that
is neither hierarchical nor conflictual. Politicians who talk up America as a
“city upon a hill” can appear to be content with the status quo.
Trump asks Americans to seek more immediate victories. Consider his criticism
of the war in Iraq: his signature objection is that the United States did not
“take the oil” before getting out. For Trump, states are similar because they
compete for the same fixed pot of resources.
One needs to work in depth to ascertain the possible polices of
man like Trump who became fame with contradictory rhetoric.
Any proper analysis of foreign policy of Trump can be done only
after January 20 when he assumes power at the White House as its legal
custodian because after that whatever he says and does makes sense to the
analysts.
Unconventional US President
Undoubtedly, Donald Trump has defied all expectations from the
very start of his presidential campaign more than a year ago. He opposed and criticized
his own party men. His election victory was unexpected by most and still
incomprehensible to many even in USA as media had taken Hillary win against an
erratic Trump for granted. First, very few people thought he would actually
run. They thought he wouldn't climb in the polls, then he did. They said he
wouldn't win any primaries, then he did. They said he wouldn't win the
Republican nomination, then he did. Finally, they said there was no way he
could compete for, let alone win, a general election. Toss-ups were tossed
aside. One after another, Ohio, Florida and North Carolina went to Trump. Now
he's President-elect Trump.
That left unhappy and highly disappointed Mrs Clinton's blue
firewall, and the firewall was eventually breached. The Democrat's last stand
largely rested on her strength in the Midwest. Those were states that had gone
Democrat for decades, based in part on the support of black and working-class
white voters.
Those working-class white people, particularly ones without
college education - men and women - deserted the party in droves. Rural voters
turned out in high numbers, as the Americans who felt overlooked by the
establishment and left behind by the coastal elite made their voices heard.
While places like Virginia and Colorado held fast, Wisconsin
fell - and with it Mrs Clinton's presidential hopes. When all is said and done,
Mrs Clinton may end up winning the popular vote on the back of strong support
in places like California and New York and closer-than-expected losses in solid-red
states like Utah. The Trump wave hit in the places it had to, however. And it
hit hard.
Trump insulted decorated many stalwarts, Ms Clinton and war veteran John
McCain. He picked a fight with Fox News and its popular presenter, Megyn Kelly.
He doubled down when asked how he once mocked the weight of a Hispanic beauty
pageant winner. He offered a half-hearted apology when the secret video
surfaced of his boasting about making unwanted sexual advances towards women.
Trump gaffed his way through the three presidential debates with
clearly lightly practiced performances. None of it mattered. While he took dips
in the polls following some of the more outrageous incidents, his approval was
like a cork - eventually bouncing back to the surface. Perhaps the various
controversies came so hard and fast that none had time to draw blood. Maybe
Trump's personality and appeal was so strong, the scandals just bounced off.
Whatever the reason, he was bulletproof. He ran against the Democrats. He also
ran against the powers within his own party. He beat them all and emerged
victorious.
Trump built a throne of skulls out of his Republican primary opponents. Some,
like Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Chris Christie and Ben Carson, eventually bent
knee. The holdouts, like Jeb Bush and Ohio Governor John Kasich, are now on the
outside of their party looking in.
Trump didn't need the help of anybody - and, in fact, may have won because he
was willing to take a stand against them. Trump's pox-on-them-all attitude is
likely to have proved his independence and outsider status at a time when much
of the American public reviled Washington (although not enough to keep them
from re-electing most congressional incumbents running for re-election). It was
a mood some other national politicians sensed - Democrat Bernie Sanders, for
instance, as well as Cruz. No one, however, captured it more than Trump, and it
won him the White House.
The polls clearly did a woeful job predicting the shape and preferences of the
electorate, particularly in Midwestern states. In the final days of the
campaign, however, the reality is that the polls were close enough that Trump
had a pathway to victory. That pathway didn't look nearly as obvious about two
weeks ago, before FBI director James Comey released his letter announcing that
they were reopening their investigation into Hillary Clinton's private email
server.
True, the polls were tightening a bit, but Trump's sharpest rise
in the standings came in the weeks between that first letter and Comey's
second, in which he said he had put the investigation back on the shelf. It
seems likely that during that period, Trump was able to successfully
consolidate his base, bringing wayward conservatives back into the fold and
shredding Mrs Clinton's hopes of offering a compelling closing message to US
voters.
Of course, Comey's actions never would have been a factor if Mrs Clinton had
decided to rely on State Department email servers for her work correspondence.
That one is on her shoulders.
Trump ran the most unconventional of political campaigns, but it turned out he
knew better than all the experts. He spent more on hats than on pollsters. He
travelled to states like Wisconsin and Michigan that pundits said were out of
reach. He held massive rallies instead of focusing on door-knocking and
get-out-the-vote operations. He had a disjointed, sometimes chaotic national
political convention that was capped by an acceptance speech that was more
doom-and-gloom than any in modern US political history. He was vastly outspent
by the Clinton campaign, just as he was during the Republican primaries. He
turned consensus wisdom about how to win the presidency on its head.
All of these decisions - and many more - were roundly ridiculed
in "knowledgeable" circles. In the end, however, they worked. Mr
Trump and his closest confidants - his children and a few chosen advisers -
will have the last laugh. And they'll do it from the White House.
Meanwhile, President Barack Obama says he could have won against Donald Trump
-- an unprofessional, undignified war of words against Trump that almost
borders on insecure immaturity. Why did Obama feel it was necessary to say
that? What is/was he trying to prove?
Team installation
Even for a failed gambling czar, Donald Trump has been surprisingly quick to
show his hand as he sets the course of his forthcoming presidency. With a
reactionary fervor, he is bursting backwards into the future. Trump has picked
people as his core team he always orbited: wealthy, white, male-dominated and
business-minded, against what he called "politically correct crap"
during his no-holds-barred presidential campaign. The current Cabinet nominated
by Trump is being touted as the wealthiest administration ever. The 17 people
picked for the Cabinet happen to have combined wealth of over $9.5 billion. The
collection of wealth is "greater than that of the 43 million least wealthy
American households combined—over one third of the 126 million households total
in the USA.
Trump has accomplished this feat through the first wave of nominations
to his Cabinet and White House staff. His bizarre selection of men and women
marinated either in corporatism or militarism, with strains of racism, class
cruelty and ideological rigidity. Many of Trump’s nominees lack an appreciation
of the awesome responsibilities of public office and they do not like
regulation of big business, such as those for auto, aviation, railroad and
pipeline safety. Trump selected Congressman Mike Pompeo to be the Director of
the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Pompeo is a cold war warrior who
believes in a militaristic, interventionist CIA, especially toward Iran, cook
up fake intelligence, thereby taking that agency even further away from its
original mission of gathering intelligence.
Secretary of Defense, “Mad Dog” Marine General James Matti believes Barack
Obama to be too weak, is an anti-Islamist, a believer in the American Empire
and the USA being the policeman for the world. Most of the nominees are
adamantly against raising the federal minim wage of $7.25 an hour and his labor
views are so extreme; who make no bones about her hatred of public schools and
her desire to have commercial managers of school systems; who are big on police
surveillance, weak on civil rights enforcement, a hard-liner on immigration and
very mixed on corporate crime... Another magnet for Trump’s nominations are
those who made big donations to his campaign. For Linda McMahon’s $7 million to
pro-Trump Super PACs, she gets to head the Small Business Administration. As a
highly controversial professional wrestling CEO, she worked to monopolize the
professional wrestling market and stifle competition.
Though the Trump team makeup suggests an extra capitalist regime
in the making, some diplomatic appointments like the one for Israel also
suggest continuity of Zionist fanaticism and fascism in Mideast, if Trump
really goes ahead with what the Neocons and Zionists want against Palestine.
American exceptionalism
The doctrine of exceptionalism has traditionally led Americans to believe that
their country is leading the world. Exceptionalism has proven durable because
it can vindicate opposing foreign policies: it justified the United States’
political and military separation from the corrupt Old World before World War
II, and has lent legitimacy to US interventions thereafter. Even President
Barack Obama has proclaimed the USA to be “exceptional” more frequently than
any other US president.
Though explicitly rejects American exceptionalism as the first president to
take office, Trump vowed to build up the military, make friends with Russia, go
after Islamist terrorism, and counter Chinese aggression. American
exceptionalism is the belief that the United States stands in the vanguard of
history, chosen by providence to redeem mankind. “We shall be as a city upon a
hill—the eyes of all people are upon us.” . Yes that has been proven time and
again. US presidency poll that crowned Trump the winner, remains the most
important occurrence of the time.
Trump has exposed the fragility of the old consensus, and the best response is
not simply to try and restore it. American exceptionalism may be well
established, but voters want change in the system.
But Trump does not think USA is great. Trump depicted the United
States in speech after speech as a retrograde nation. “We need somebody that
can take the brand of the United States and make it great again.” “We’re like a
Third World country,” he declared. It was once great, but the country would now
have to claw its way back, first to first world standards and then, perhaps, to
preeminence. In place of confident exceptionalism, Trump offered insecure
nationalism, recasting the United States as a global victim.
Trump pointed to the country’s airports, citing them not only as
examples of crumbling national infrastructure, but also as places that elicit
international disdain. When travelers leave Dubai or China, he said, they land
at LaGuardia or LAX and see rubble: “All over the world, they’re laughing.”
Trump has inverted the exceptionalist dogma, repeated by both Obama and his
2012 challenger, Mitt Romney, that the United States is the “envy of the
world.” Trump, to be sure, assumes that the whole world is watching the United
States—not out of envy, but to mock it. Trump explained that he would instead
like to make America exceptional, by taking back what it had given to the
world. Trump is redefining exceptionalism.
Whereas previous presidents have taken it to be a permanent
trait, and an intrinsic part of American identity, the current president-elect
views it as a conditional state. A nation becomes “exceptional” by snatching up
more wealth and power than others.
Trump rejects American exceptionalism mainly because he thinks it paralyzes the
United States: it prevents the country from playing to win. Under the rubric of
Cold War exceptionalism, which cast the United States as the defender of the
free world, U.S. leaders rebuilt old enemies such as Germany and Japan,
lavished dollars and troops on allies, and set up multilateral institutions to
ensure broad-based prosperity.
The Democratic candidate Sanders during the primary campaign
declared upon announcing his presidential campaign that USA has become a
dumping ground for everybody else's problems. Trump just extended the idea
further. Sanders campaign represents an assault on American exceptionalism
generally denoting Americans' peculiar faith in God, flag, and free market.
Trump supports all three. Trump's supporters like the fact that he's super
rich, blunt, and hasn't spent his life in politics. But his pledges to keep the
rest of the world at bay are core to his appeal.
The so-called insiders within the Washington ruling class are the people who
got USA into trouble, Trumps said: what we are doing now isn't working. And
years ago, when I was just starting out in business, I figured out a pretty
simple approach that has always worked well for me: "When you're digging
yourself deeper and deeper into a hole, stop digging." The state of the
world right now is a terrible mess. There has never been a more dangerous time.
Ignore career diplomats who insist on nuance. The career diplomats who got USA
into many foreign policy messes think that successful diplomacy requires years
of experience and an understanding of all the nuances that have been carefully
considered before reaching a conclusion. Trump wants to disprove them all.
In the 1980s, flying from place to place in his Trump helicopter and Trump jet,
he offered opinions on everything from politics to sex, and continually
declared himself to be superior in every way. He frequently referred to many
people who thought he should run for president and sometimes acted as if he
were a real candidate. During one especially tense Cold War moment, he even
offered himself to the world as a nuclear-arms-treaty negotiator.
Trump thinks as a man who can make high-end real estate deals he
should be able to bring the United States and the Soviet Union into agreement.
He offered himself as Cold War nuclear-arms-treaty negotiator. "Pulling
back from Europe would save this country millions of dollars annually. The cost
of stationing NATO troops in Europe is enormous. And these are clearly funds
that can be put to better use." Would you want to end the NATO alliance
completely?
As for nations that host US military bases, Trump said he would
charge those governments for the American presence. "I'm going to
renegotiate some of our military costs because we protect South Korea. We
protect Germany. We protect some of the wealthiest countries in the world, like
Saudi Arabia. We protect everybody and we don't get reimbursement. We lose on
everything, so we're going to negotiate and renegotiate trade deals, military
deals, many other deals that's going to get the cost down for running our
country very significantly."
Trump then got into a specific example: Saudi Arabia, one of the
more important US allies (than Israel but USA uses Israel to get what it wants
from Saudi and other Arab nations) in the Middle East. Saudis "make a
billion dollars a day. We protect them. So we need help. We are losing a
tremendous amount of money on a yearly basis and we owe $19 trillion," he
said. Walking back trade deals and agreements that allow the US military to
operate overseas is easier said than done. But Trump has tapped into a powerful
anti-Washington populist sentiment.
NATO economics
One of the major headlines in world media is Trump’s intention
of asking the NATO nations to finance the organization instead of making USA to
foot the entire bill for maintenance. Trumps want every NATO member to pay for
the US shield. Currently only USA and Turkey make maximum contributions.
Economics of NATO funding by its 28 members is an issue that
worries Trump and many others in the West. Donald Trump said USA cannot spend
on the security of Europe. "We are spending a fortune on a military in
order to lose $800 billion," Trump said. "I think NATO's great. But
it's got to be modernized. And countries that we're protecting have to pay what
they're supposed to be paying." In fact, it is a position that Trump has
stated several times before, saying he believes that the US is getting
"ripped off" and that some NATO members are getting an unfair
"free ride."
As the Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, in a New
York Times interview, outlined a sharp break in US foreign policy tradition,
suggesting the US wouldn't defend NATO allies like the Baltic States against
Russian aggression if they haven't "fulfilled their obligation to
us." Trump seemed to reject core assumptions of US military and foreign
policy thinking -- including foreign troop deployment and advocating for civil
liberties -- and argued for an unprecedented global retrenchment, frequently
framing his argument in economic terms. Trumps vice presidential choice, Mike
Pence, however, said that Trump would "stand with our allies."
"We cannot have four more years of apologizing to our enemies and
abandoning our friends," Pence said. But Trump reiterated that suggested
that the massive expense of maintaining an international order that is contributing
to trade losses for the US "doesn't sound very smart to me." He
questioned the forward deployment of American troops when answering a question
about the tension in the South China Sea. According to the Times interview,
Trump explained that "it will be a lot less expensive" for the United
States to deploy military assets domestically. “NATO now does need to redefine
itself," he said
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said that the United States'
commitment to the mutual defense pact is "ironclad." Hillary Clinton
said "For decades, the United States has given an ironclad guarantee to
our NATO allies: we will come to their defense if they are attacked, just as
they came to our defense after 9/11. Donald Trump was asked if he would honor
that guarantee. He said... maybe, maybe not." The former secretary of
state continued, "Ronald Reagan would be ashamed. Harry Truman would be
ashamed.
Republicans, Democrats and Independents who help build NATO into the most
successful military alliance in history would all come to the same conclusion:
Donald Trump is temperamentally unfit and fundamentally ill-prepared to be our
Commander in Chief."
New spending data released recently show the US shells out far more money on
defense than any other nation on the planet. According to NATO statistics, the
US spent an estimated $650 billion on defense last year. That's more than
double the amount all the other 27 NATO countries spent between them, even
though their combined GDP tops that of the US.
NATO is based on the principle of collective defense: an attack
against one or several of its members is considered as an attack against all.
So far that has only been invoked once -- in response to the September 11 hoax.
To make the principle work, all countries are expected to chip in. NATO's
official guidelines say member states should spend at least 2% of their gross
domestic product on defense.
Of the 28 countries in the alliance, only five -- the USA,
Greece, Poland, Estonia and the UK -- meet the target. Many European members --
including big economies like France and Germany -- lag behind. Germany spent
1.19% of its GDP on defense last year and France forked out 1.78%.
American military spending has always eclipsed other allies'
budgets since NATO's founding in 1949. But the gap grew much wider when the US
beefed up its spending after the 9/11 attacks. NATO admits it has an
"over-reliance" on the US for the provision of essential
capabilities, including intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance,
air-to-air refueling, ballistic missile defense and airborne electronic
warfare. The US also spends the highest proportion of its GDP on defense:
3.61%. The second biggest NATO spender in proportional terms is Greece, at
2.38%, according to NATO. Iceland, which doesn't have its own army, spends just
0.1% of its GDP on defense, according to the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development. Five other countries spend less than 1%, according
to NATO's estimates for this year: Canada, Slovenia, Belgium, Spain and
Luxembourg.
All member countries that fall below the threshold committed in
2014 to gradually ramp up military spending to reach the target within the next
decade. Additionally, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has also
called on other NATO members to spend more on defense.
One can't verify whether the United States is getting
"ripped off," but it's clear that most NATO member countries are not
spending what the alliance's official guidelines require. Trump's statement may
be true. The issue never came up for public debate.
Trump’s comments aimed at getting NATO allies to raise defense spending and do
more to fight terrorism could be beneficial. NATO could boost its force size,
and its ability to deploy forces.
Trump on Russia and China
Like his predecessors had done before, Trump seems to be interested in
extending cooperation and trade with both Russia and China and encourage
reforms in their internal policies and he is particularly positive about Russia
with which he has maintained bossiness. “I don’t understand why American
policymakers are always so timid in dealing with Russia on issues that directly
involve our survival. Kosovo was a perfect case in point: Russia was holding
out its hand for billions of dollars in IMF loans (to go along with billions in
aid the USA has given) the same week it was issuing threats and warnings
regarding our conduct in the Balkans. We need to tell Russia and other
recipients that if they want our dime they had better do our dance, at least in
matters regarding our national security.
These people need us much more than we need them. We have leverage, and we are
crazy not to use it to better advantage”. For USA the lack of human rights
prevents consumer development in China. “Why am I concerned with political
rights? I’m a good businessman and I can be amazingly unsentimental when I need
to be. I also recognize that when it comes down to it, we can’t do much to
change a nation’s internal policies. But I’m unwilling to shrug off the
mistreatment of China’s citizens by their own government. My reason is simple:
These oppressive policies make it clear that China’s current government has
contempt for American way of life. We want to trade with China because of the
size of its consumer market. But if the regime continues to repress individual
freedoms, how many consumers will there really be? Isn’t it inconsistent to
compromise our principles by negotiating trade with a country that may not want
and cannot afford our goods?
We have to make it absolutely clear that we’re willing to trade with China, but
not to trade away our principles, and that under no circumstances will we keep
our markets open to countries that steal from us”.
Outgoing US President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping always
agreed that their nations’ relationship was the most important in world
affairs.
President-elect Trump spent more time on the campaign trail
talking about China than anywhere else. Complaining that China is “raping” the
United States by its unfair trade practices, Trump has pledged to restore
equity to commercial ties. He has also hinted that he might take a fresh look
at Washington’s “one China policy,” which acknowledges that Beijing claims
Taiwan, but leaves the island’s precise status ambiguous.
Trump said America’s biggest long-term challenge will be China.
The Chinese people still have few political rights to speak of. Chinese
government leaders, though they concede little, desperately want us to invest
in their country. Though we have the upper hand, we’re way to eager to please.
We see them as a potential market and we curry favor with them at the expense
of our national interests. Our China policy under Presidents Clinton and Bush
has been aimed at changing the Chinese regime by incentives both economic and
political. The intention has been good, but it’s clear that the Chinese have
been getting far too easy a ride. Despite the opportunity, I think we need to
take a much harder look at China. There are major problems that too many at the
highest reaches of business want to overlook, primarily the human-rights
situation.
Another potential flashpoint: the South China Sea, which Beijing
claims almost in its entirety – along with the islets, reefs, and shoals that
dot its waters – in defiance of an international legal ruling this year and of
US policy. So far, in its drive to build those reefs into military airstrips,
China has stayed below the threshold that might provoke a strong American
reaction. But a Trump dispensation could lower that threshold, and show less
tolerance for Chinese adventurism.
The Trump government would likely be very confrontational with
China. not sure if Americans really appreciate China’s sensitivities or
strength; Beijing could do all sorts of things to make life difficult and
painful for America. The risk is that a general mood of confrontation between
Beijing in Washington could spawn an incident that could get out of hand.
“China is our enemy; they're bilking us for billions” by manipulating and
devaluing its currency. I've been criticized for calling them our enemy. But
what else do you call the people who are destroying your children's and
grandchildren's future? (Israelis are destroying Palestinians) What name would
you prefer me to use for the people who are hell bent on bankrupting our
nation, stealing our jobs, who spy on us to steal our technology, who are
undermining our currency, and who are ruining our way of life? To my mind,
that's an enemy. Trump said during the campaign: If we're going to make America
number one again, we've got to have a president who knows how to get tough with
China, how to out-negotiate the Chinese, and how to keep them from screwing us
at every turn”.
So, under Trump, “it won’t be business as usual,” predicts Bonnie Glaser, a
China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in
Washington. What kind of business it will be, it’s probably too early to say.
But even before he has taken office, Trump’s barrage of tweets and other public
comments suggest that he could be ready for a major overhaul of Washington’s
China policy.
However, any even worst case scenario, as veto members deciding
global issues together with other 3 veto members, they would not come to blows
in a military clash, though many specialists do not rule out war, saying: “That
is not out of the question.”
Middle East
USA has built up close tie s with Arab world even while providing a large scale
aim package to Israel as a regular free gift in terror goods and money.
Trump said and he must not take sides with Israel the ongoing conflict between
the Israelis and the Palestinians, so USA can lead negotiations. How can USA
neutral when it considers Israel to be America's closest ally in the Middle
East? Trump said "Let me be sort of a neutral guy. I don't want to say
whose fault it is; I don't think it helps."
Apparently, President Obama has treated Israel not so horribly as Israel
claims. I have very close ties to Israel. Israeli president had said I've
received the Tree of Life Award and many of the greatest awards given by Israel.
He thinks a Palestine and Israeli settlement is a real estate deal. As
president, however, there's nothing that I would rather do to bring peace to
Israel and its neighbors generally. And I think it serves no purpose to say
that you have a good guy and a bad guy”. It doesn't do any good to start
demeaning the neighbors, because I would love to do something with regard to
negotiating peace, finally, for Israel and for their neighbors.
Trump could negotiate a deal with Israel and Palestinians,
directly. The Palestinians are not a real estate deal, Donald. A deal is a
deal. Let me tell you that. I learned a long time ago. A deal is not a deal
when you're dealing with Zionist state terrorists. Have you ever negotiated
with terrorists and criminal Jews? Negotiators have not been able over the
years to achieve a credible deal through negotiation with Israel which is not
willing for a peace deal in Mideast as that would cripple its control over the
region and economy with western nations stopping aid packages. Israel wants the
west to treat it as a special category. . It's very important that we do that.
The saddest thing ever seen in “talks” is they never bring peace.
Trump said USA is going to have to hit hard to knock out ISIS. “We're going to
have to learn who our allies are. We have allies, we have no idea who they are
in Syria. Do we want to stay that route, or do we want to go and make something
with Russia?”
If you look at the threats facing this country, the single gravest threat,
national security threat, is the threat of a nuclear Iran. That's why I've
pledged on day one to rip to shreds this Iranian nuclear deal. The Iran deal is
one of the worst deals I have ever seen negotiated in my entire life. It's a
disgrace that this country negotiated that deal. As far as Syria, if Putin
wants to go and knock the hell out of ISIS, I am all for it, 100%, and I can't
understand how anybody would be against it. They blew up a Russian airplane. He
cannot be in love with these people. He's going in, and we can go in, and
everybody should go in. As far as the Ukraine is concerned, we have a group of
people, and a group of countries, including Germany--why are we always doing
the work? I'm all for protecting Ukraine--but, we have countries that are
surrounding the Ukraine that aren't doing anything. They say, "Keep going,
keep going, you dummies, keep going. Protect us." And we have to get
smart. We can't continue to be the policeman of the world.
We're going to open the gates to refugees from places like
Syria, which is like extending a personal invitation to ISIS members to come
live here and try to destroy our country from within. This is America today,
the shining city on a hill, which other countries used to admire and try to be
like.
Russia’s involvement in Syria reduced the economic burden on USA. Trump
welcomed Putin's involvement in Syria. Trump said USA is going to get bogged
down in Syria and if the Pentagon does not learn from Soviet experience in
Afghanistan when they went bankrupt, nothing can help Americans. Putin's also
going to get suckered into Syrian conflict. They're going to get bogged down.
Everybody that's touched the Middle East, they've gotten bogged down. Now,
Putin wants to go in and I like that Putin is bombing the hell out of ISIS.
Putin has to get rid of ISIS because Putin doesn't want ISIS coming into
Russia. We've spent now $2 trillion in Iraq, probably a trillion in
Afghanistan. We're destroying our country. Stop sending aid to countries that
hate us. More sanctions on Iran; I don't trust Putin but the truth is, it's not
a question of trust. I don't want to see the United States get bogged down.
Trade issues
As for next year’s outlook for world trade, the grease to
globalization’s wheels, it is bleak. Some are calling it the end of globalization.
Trade among members of the Group of 20, the leading world
economies, has been pretty much stagnant this year. And now a wave of
protectionist, anti-trade sentiment is washing over the United States and
Europe.
That seems to have put paid to plans for a Transatlantic Trade
and Investment Partnership (TTIP), a putative free-trade deal between the
United States and the European Union that has run into strong political
headwinds in Europe.
The political climate, with elections due next year in Germany
and France, has put TTIP negotiations “on a very long pause,” says Caroline
Freund, a trade analyst at the Peterson Institute for International Economics,
a Washington think tank.
And Trump’s election as US president appears to have sounded the
death knell for the Trans Pacific Partnership, a free-trade agreement that had
already been agreed on by 12 Pacific rim countries, including the US but not
China.
Trump, who has long disdained international trade deals that he
says make it easier to offshore US jobs to cheaper locations, has said he will
tear up the TPP.
He is also threatening to slap 45 percent tariffs on all Chinese
exports to the United States. This could be rhetoric, building up a position in
advance of negotiations with Beijing to make China open its market more to US
goods and investment.
“The most hopeful outlook is that this works,” says Dr. Freund,
“and that instead of a trade war we get some change in China that boosts world
trade and the US economy. But I do not think that is particularly likely.”
More probably, she forecasts, China would retaliate big time by
canceling orders for Boeing aircraft and buying European instead, or making
life even harder than it already is for US companies in China, or drying up the
flow of Chinese students who have been flocking to US colleges and filling
their coffers for the past decade.
Post-Cold War scenario reflected a switch from chess player to
dealmaker in international relations. A dealmaker can keep many balls in the
air, weigh the competing interests of other nations, and above all, constantly
put America’s best interests first. The dealmaker knows when to be tough and
when to back off. He knows when to bluff and he knows when to threaten,
understanding that you threaten only when prepared to carry out the threat. The
dealmaker is cunning, secretive, focused, and never settles for less than he
wants. It’s been a long time since America had a president like that.
Trump said in the modern world you can’t very easily draw up a simple, general
foreign policy. “I was busy making deals during the last decade of the cold
war. Now the game has changed. The day of the chess player is over. Foreign
policy has to be put in the hands of a dealmaker”. In the past, two dealmakers
have served as president-one was Franklin Roosevelt, who got Americans through
WWII, and the other was Richard Nixon, who forced the Russians to the
bargaining table to achieve the first meaningful reductions in nuclear arms.
Domestic policy
The Republican said in March that abortions should be illegal and he supported
"some form of punishment" for women who had them. His campaign
quickly backed down from that statement, however, and asserted that the
candidate believed the legality of the procedure should be left up to individual
states, with any criminal penalties being reserved for abortion providers.
He has said he supports an abortion ban exception for
"rape, incest and the life of the mother". He has called for
defunding Planned Parenthood. As recently as 2000, Mr Trump supported abortion
rights but has said that, like Ronald Reagan, he changed his views on the
matter.
Obamacare is one of the outgoing president's signature policies - and Trump has
vowed to repeal it. His alternative would give individual states greater
control over their health plans, and allow more competition across state lines.
With Republicans in command of Congress, revoking Obamacare seems a real
possibility. But they could face a backlash from the millions of Americans
losing coverage.
Violence and lawlessness is out of control in the US, according
to Mr Trump. He says law enforcement agencies are unable to fight crime because
of runaway "political correctness" and says they should be allowed to
get tough on offenders. He says police profiling is necessary to prevent
terrorist attacks on US soil. He supports "stop and frisk", claiming
the policy was highly successful in New York, even though many experts
disagree. The practice was ruled unconstitutional and a form of "indirect
racial profiling" by a federal judge in the city.
Rejecting Republican orthodoxy, Trump has called for six weeks
of paid maternity leave, which would amount to what the mother would receive in
unemployment benefit. But this would not apply to fathers. There are no details
though on how this policy would be paid for.
Trump has blamed some shootings on lax gun laws, saying armed people could have
intervened and saved lives. He frequently accused rival Hillary Clinton of
wanting to eliminate gun rights during the campaign and promises his supporters
that the Second Amendment would be safe.
One of the most important decisions for the next president is
shaping the future of the Supreme Court. There is currently one vacancy, but
with several justices of retirement age, Trump could have more than one
appointment to make, shifting the court to the right for years to come.
Foreign policy
Trump has said that the USA is mishandling current Iran negotiations and should
have walked away from the table once Tehran reportedly rejected the idea of
sending enriched uranium to Russia. Walk away from nuclear talks. Increase
sanctions. Trump wants to increase sanctions on Iran but add more terror goods
to Israel to threaten Palestinians and other regional Arabs. Trump has been
sharply critical of the Obama's handling of relations with Israel and has
called for a closer alliance with fanatic Israeli PM Netanyahu.
I've been all over the world. I've dealt with foreign countries. I've done
tremendously well dealing with China and with many of the countries that are
just ripping this country. I would have a good relationship with Putin. Take a
look at what happened with their fighter jets circling one of our aircraft in a
very dangerous manner. Somebody said less than 10 feet away. This is hostility.
Russia wants to defeat ISIS as badly as we do. If we had a relationship with
Russia, wouldn't it be wonderful if we could knock the hell out of ISIS?
Putin called Trump a brilliant leader. When he calls me brilliant, I'll take
the compliment. The fact is, look, I'm a negotiator. We're going to take back
our country.
Donald Trump says he supports President Barack Obama's decision to reengage
diplomatically with Cuba. "50 years is enough," Trump said, referring
to Obama's decision to re-establish U.S. ties with Cuba. "The concept of
opening with Cuba is fine." Trump joins libertarian-leaning Sen. Rand Paul
as the only Republican running for president to express his support for normalizing
relations with Cuba. The rest of the GOP field has slammed Obama's decision to
reopen the U.S. embassy in Havana and engage diplomatically with the government
of Cuba.
By 2027, tsunami as China overtakes USA as largest economy.
There is a lot that Obama and his globalist pals don't want you to know about
China's strength. It's been predicted that by 2027, China will overtake the
United States as the world's biggest economy--much sooner if the Obama
economy's disastrous trends continue. That means in a handful of years, America
will be engulfed by the economic tsunami that is the People's Republic of
China--my guess is by 2016 if we don't act fast. For the past thirty years,
China's economy has grown an average 9 to 10 percent each year. In the first
quarter of 2011 alone, China's economy grew a robust 9.7 percent. America's
first quarter growth rate is an embarrassing and humiliating 1.9 percent. It's
a national disgrace.
Trump has criticised the Iraq War (although his claims that he
opposed it from the start are unfounded) and other US military action in the
Middle East. He has called for closer relations with Vladimir Putin's Russia
and says the US must make allies in Europe and Asia shoulder a greater share of
the expense for their national defence and emphasizes that US foreign policy
must always prioritize American interests.
On the other hand, Trump has also taken a hard-line stance
toward combating IS and has even at times asserted the US should commit tens of
thousands of ground troops to the fight. He says Nato should do more to combat
terrorism in the Middle East, maintaining that the US foots too much of the
bill for the Alliance and that other allies should spend more on their own
protection.
Once upon a time, Republicans were the party of unfettered free trade. Donald
Trump has changed all that. While he says he is not opposed to trade in
principle, any trade deals have to protect US industry. He is firmly against
the Trans-Pacific Partnership and has said that he will re-open negotiations on
already signed pacts, such as the North America Free Trade Agreement (Nafta),
and withdraw if US demands are not met. He has accused US trading partners like
Mexico and China of unfair trade practices, currency manipulation and
intellectual property theft, threatening to unilaterally impose tariffs and
other punitive measures if they do not implement reforms.
Trump has issued no position statements on environmental issues on his website.
In speeches and debates, however, he has said he opposes what he views as economically
damaging environmental regulations backed by "political activists with
extreme agendas". He says he supports clean water and air, but wants to
slash funding to the Environmental Protection Agency. He has also called
man-made climate change "a hoax" and said he would "cancel"
the Paris Agreement and other international efforts to address the issue.
Trump wants to create restrictions on lobbyists, by first
defining who is a "lobbyist". Currently, anyone spending less than
20% of their time engaged in lobbying can call themselves an
"adviser" or "consultant". Trump says this is a loophole
that must be closed. Trump proposes there be a five-year ban preventing
government officials who have recently departed the government from immediately
joining lobbying firms. He also wants a lifetime lobbying ban on any former
administration officials who have previously worked on behalf of foreign
governments. He has called on Congress to change campaign finance laws to stop
anyone who lobbies for foreign governments from raising funds for US elections.
He has claimed to be "self-funding" his campaign, but has also
employed a former hedge fund manager to solicit campaign funds from deep-pocket
donors.
This is his signature issue. Despite critics who call it unaffordable and
unrealistic, the Republican has stood by his call to build an impenetrable wall
along the 2,000-plus-mile US-Mexico border. He has also called for reductions
in legal immigration, ending President Barack Obama's executive actions
deferring deportation proceedings for undocumented migrants, and more stringent
efforts to reduce the number of these migrants living in the US. The candidate
has backed away from earlier calls for the forced deportation of the more than
11 million undocumented migrants living on US soil and temporarily closing the
US border to all Muslims - but not dropped them.
Trump has been warning that the US policy of admitting refugees from certain
regions - the Middle East or, more generally, Muslim nations - presents a
serious threat to US national security. He has attempted to bolster his case by
citing often debunked internet rumours, such as the Syrian refugees are largely
young, single men. He has called for the US to suspend resettling refugees
until "extreme vetting" procedures can be implemented, including
ideological tests to screen out extremists. He asserts that nations in the
Middle East - which have already received millions of Syrian and Iraqi refugees
- must do more to create safe zones for those fleeing the violence.
Provide economic assistance to create a safe zone in Syria. I
love a safe zone for people. I do not like the migration. I do not like the
people coming. Trump would help them economically, even though we owe $19
trillion. US should not train rebels it does not know or control. The Russians
are hitting Assad as well as people we've trained. Where they're hitting
people, we're talking about people that we don't even know. I was talking to a
general two days ago. He said, "We have no idea who these people are. We're
training people. We don't know who they are. We're giving them billions of
dollars to fight Assad." I'm not saying Assad's a good guy, because he's
probably a bad guy. But I've watched him interviewed many times. And you can
make the case, if you look at Libya, look at what we did there-- it's a mess--
if you look at Saddam Hussein with Iraq, look what we did there-- it's a mess--
it's going be same thing.
Better to have Mideast strongmen than Mideast chaos. The Middle
East would be better today if Gaddafi, Saddam and Assad were stronger? That the
Middle East would be safer? Iraq is a disaster. And ISIS came out of Iraq.
If Saddam and Gaddafi were still in power, things would be more
stable, of course it would be. You wouldn't have had your Benghazi situation,
which is one thing, which was just a terrible situation.
Nuclear policy
At the Nuclear Security Summit, the president was asked for his
reaction to Trump's suggestion that US allies Japan and South Korea manufacture
their own nuclear weapons as a defense against North Korean aggression. Obama
said the comments "tell us the person who made the statements doesn't know
much about nuclear policy, or the Korean Peninsula or the world
generally." White House aides pointed out that Trump's policy would reverse
decades of bipartisan US foreign policy and would increase nuclear
proliferation.
Trump has argued that allowing Japan and South Korea to get the weapons would
relieve the US of defending their East Asia allies. Foreign leaders from both
countries have dismissed the idea. "You have so many countries
already--China, Pakistan, you have so many countries, Russia--you have so many
countries right now that have them," Trump said during a CNN town hall.
"Now, wouldn't you rather, in a certain sense, have Japan have nuclear
weapons when North Korea has nuclear weapons?"
Trump was asked how he would respond to North Korea's nuclear
threat. "I would get China to make that guy disappear in one form or
another very quickly," Trump said. He didn't clarify whether disappearing
was equivalent to being assassinated but said "I mean, this guy's a bad
dude, and don't underestimate him," Trump said, referring to North Korean
leader Kim Jong Un. "Any young guy who can take over from his father with
all those generals and everybody else that probably want the position, this is
not somebody to be underestimated." Trump maintained that China has
control over North Korea and the US has control over China. They don't say it,
but they do," Trump explained. "And they should make that problem
disappear. China is sucking us dry. They're taking our money. They're taking
our jobs. We have rebuilt China with what they've taken out."Without
China, North Korea doesn't even eat. China is ripping us on trade. They're
devaluing their currency and they're killing our companies. We've lost between
four and seven million jobs because of China. "we have very unfair trade
with China. We're going to have a trade deficit of 505 billion dollars this
year with China. I would start taxing goods that come in from China.
Trumps said diplomacy and respect crucial to any relationship with Russia. I've
been saying relationship is so important in business, that it's so important in
deals, and so important in the country. And if President Obama got along with Putin,
that would be a fabulous thing. But they do not get along. Putin does not
respect our president. And I'm sure that our president does not like him very
much.
With regards to the Iranian nuclear deal: Nobody ever mentions
North Korea where you have this maniac sitting there and he actually has
nuclear weapons and somebody better start thinking about North Korea and
perhaps a couple of other places.
Trump and Obama: Shared policy priorities
Although the Obama government has not used the same slogan, it
has adopted an America First strategy. Vice President Joe toured Asia in July
2016 as part of the administration’s “rebalance” to Asia. “We’re not doing
anyone any favors,” Biden stated, referring to the administration’s special
focus on the region. “It’s overwhelmingly in our interest. “We don’t work with
other nations as a luxury, or as charity,” Blinken explained.
Apparently, Trump and the Obama have always shared many of the same foreign
policy objectives, they intend to ensure that the USA remains the most dominant
military power in the world, even though Trump made every effort during his
campaign to condemn Obama’s policies as dangerous and destructive to both the
United States and the world. Both Trump and Obama have also made it clear that
they intend to completely destroy the Islamic State (ISIS or IS). In November
2015, Trump outlined his position during a radio commercial in which he pledged
to “quickly and decisively bomb the hell out of ISIS.”
In March 2016, Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter presented the basic position
of the Obama government saying that the Department of Defense “will keep
ensuring our dominance in all domains.” The following month, Trump declared his
support for the same objective. “Our military dominance must be unquestioned,”
Trump stated.
Furthermore, Trump has displayed similar commitments on other
fundamental issues. Trump has made it clear that he intends to prioritize the
interests of the United States above everything else. “America First will be
the major and overriding theme of my administration,” Trump announced during
his campaign. Indeed, Trump insisted that he would base his foreign policy on
the premise that the United States should only take actions in the world that
work to the advantage of the United States. “We’re going to finally have a
coherent foreign policy based upon American interests, and the shared interests
of our allies,” Trump stated.
President Obama has confirmed that he adopted an America First
strategy. When he recently commented on his decision to commit the United
States to the Paris Agreement in order to address the threat of global climate
change, Obama confirmed that he was primarily motivated by the US interests at
stake. Currently, Obama said, “the biggest threat when it comes to climate change
and pollution is going to come from China with over a billion people and India
with over a billion people.” With his remarks, Obama indicated that the USA
needed to join the Paris Agreement to prevent countries such as China and India
from harming the United States with their pollution.
In fact, the Obama government has been busy working to fulfill
its mission. In the time since USA began its air campaign in August 2014, USA
and coalition forces have conducted more than 15,000 airstrikes against IS and
have killed more than 45,000 ISIS fighters. In other words, the administration
has been bombing the hell out of ISIS.
Observations: Inexperience a plus point or mystery ?
Humanity should be happy with US voters for defeating a
dangerously positioned Democratic party, pursuing the aggressive Republican
policies as its own, under first ever Black President Obama who is leaving
behind a failed foreign policy, very arrogantly, terrorizing Arab world with
his drone threats. That is indeed unlike the core principles of Democratic
Party. Republican Donald Trump emerged victorious by defeating the formidable
Hillary Clinton because Americans are fed up with Democratic regime and Hillary
Clinton’s Zionist approach in Mideast.
Obviously, Trump is new phenomenon in US politics as well as world scene in
recent times. Earlier, before the World War two, Germany and Italy saw fascist
political tendencies tasking roots in national scene and wining the polls and
initiating fascist rule. The international experience in fascist trends warns
American people who, in order to get rid of Democratic party using Republican
war policies, had to vote the Republican Ronald Trump with contractor views on
several issues, reminding the world of return of fascism in US poll politics, to
power.
Evolution of Trump as a politician is indeed remarkable. Trump’s campaign
rhetoric was essentially of a hawkish nature meant to gain votes from American
voters who wanted a strong president but after winning the presidency, however,
Trump has revised his statements on foreign policy of USA.
Since the signing of the Paris Agreement a year ago, addressing climate change
has remained a major imperative for most of the world's nations. Enough
countries quickly ratified the accord so that it entered into force early, in
November. Most countries also signed on to two other agreements this fall: one
to reduce potent greenhouse gases used in refrigeration and another to cap
emissions for the aviation industry. President-elect Donald Trump may dismiss
the Paris Agreement on Climate but the world that takes the climate crisis. On
January 20 the new US President Donald Trump enters a complex web of diplomatic
relations, where issues like trade, finance, migration, security, poverty, food
aid and disaster relief are all intertwined and all have important links to the
climate agenda. It's a world already dealing with significant climate impacts
and sold on climate action.
As the new global leader Trump has to devise his productive
polices to promote healthy international order and revise his own
misunderstanding on climate change and help the world check and correct
climatic disorder. Saying things for votes is one thing in today’s world of
anti-Islamism, and Islamophobia and terror wars, but sticking to them could
spell disaster to USA and Trump’s chances for second term.
The same is true of Palestine issue as well. His intentions to
mend ways with rival Russia would cut Israeli fanaticism to size in a big way
and make the ME region and even world over tension free.
Ultimately, the Trump presidency is a grand experiment – the
election of a larger-than-life character with a big megaphone and big promises
but no experience in government. From beginning to end, it will be a presidency
without precedent. Any steps that called current American policy into question
“would risk a major confrontation with China,” warns Ms. Glaser. “Beijing is
not ready to re-negotiate agreements … that they see as the bedrock of US-China
relations.”
As Trump has put it, using the standard language of the foreign
policy establishment, his government will mainly be “focusing on creating
stability in the world.” President Trump would use the essentially anti-Islamic
media to sugarcoat, falsify, distract, intimidate, glorify and massify the
millions of people who believed, once upon a recent time, that he would “Make
America Great Again.”
It is one thing for Trump to break the mold as a candidate or as
president-elect, but quite another as leader of the free world. The questions
are nearly endless, ranging from the seemingly stylistic to matters of profound
global consequence. Is he really ready to risk a trade war with China? With a
pro-nuke US president, is the world indeed heading for a new arms race?
Trump’s situation is unprecedented – the wealthiest person ever
to win the presidency, with a global business empire that’s virtually
impossible to separate from his dealings as president, at least anytime soon.
Trump’s business interests – and those of his children – are another matter,
raising serious questions about conflicts of interest and what he must do under
the Constitution.
Despite the president-elect’s own political history, at various
times identifying as a Democrat, an independent, and a Republican, and to this
day, holding some socially liberal views, such as on gender issues, one doubts
if Trump could land USA in greater troubles. .
As the first ever Presidential candidate without political experience the
showman billionaire Donald Trump had experience neither in state governance nor
in foreign policy matters and as such he made statements during the campaign
depending on the circumstances knowing that arrogance and aggressive rhetoric
would fetch m him more votes that his rival experienced politicians Hillary Clinton.
Now after his election, Trump makes statements without any serious thoughts, as
usual.
In the end, the outgoing Obama will soon hand over power to a
Trump team that shares some of the very same foreign policy commitments.
Despite the fact that the foreign policy establishment remains uncertain about
Trump’s intentions, the president-elect has provided many signals that he
intends for the United States to continue playing an active role in enforcing a
system of global order.
Future of Trump’s foreign policy still remains a mystery as the
President elect has given out a conflicting signals to the world with his
approximant of a pro-Russia American as his foreign minister while appointment
of a hard core Zionist as US ambassador to Israel. While in the first case USA
is eager to mend ties with Russia, in the second appoint, a further
deterioration of Mideast crisis and more problems for the Palestinians even
after a Palestine state is established. It is quite likely, in appointing a
Zionist American as US diplomat in Tel Aviv, Trump wants to assure the criminal
state of Israel the continued military and economic support to Israel, provided
Israel agrees and extends full support for the creation of much delayed
Palestine state.
Will President Trump let history define Trumpism a terrible
disaster the humanity had to endure - worse than Zionism? First, he mist
shift his focus from business to people in order to devise polices for the
people.
After all, Americans have not elected to White House a nonsensical
man! By failing to live up to American expectations, Trump in fact defeats
American overs. Hopefully, he won’t do that.
That the president elect has ruled out promoting democracy abroad
signals a departure from the US policy of invasions for regime change
especially in energy rich Arab nations but however, Israel is left free to
promote its own fascist ideology and regime making Palestinians and other Arabs
worried about the future of their children in Mideast if Israel continues to
dictate its terms to them. US policy for Israel and Mideast would determine if
Trump would be different President. Anti-invasion position of Trump could spell
a good start for the USA.
January 20 is not far away; nor does Trump’s presidential
action. Hopefully President Trump won’t pursue an erratic foreign policy to
give chance for Madam Clinton camp to celebrate victory!
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