TRUMP ISOLATES AMERICA
‘Attack on Iran nuclear deal gambles with US diplomatic credibility’
DONALD Trump has gambled with United States’ diplomatic credibility by attacking an Iran nuclear deal that his European allies cherish as a benchmark for international cooperation.
And in doing so the US president has underlined the risk that his “America First” foreign policy will translate to one of “America Alone” as he confronts future crises.
Between nationalist speeches, protectionist gestures and highoctane Twitter outbursts, observers have struggled to identify a coherent strategy behind Trump’s decisions.
But one thread does stand out as he pulls out of trade deals, provokes allies and tears up international accords — he seems determined that no international ties will bind him.
The US emerged as the indispensable superpower in the wake of World War Two in part through its leadership in a global rules-based system of treaties and alliances.
But, as Trump made clear last month in a speech to the United Nations General Assembly, his vision is of a world where the US is just the most powerful in a network of sovereign nations.
“Trump foreign policy has found its theme: ‘The Withdrawal Doctrine’,” quipped Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Trump has not yet withdrawn from the Iran deal, although he made it clear that he is ready to do so if Congress and sceptical US allies do not agree to new sanctions.
He did quit the UN cultural organisation, this week.
He has collapsed the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal and appears to be poised to destroy the North American Free Trade Agreement treaty.
Time and again his bluster has put in question US’s commitment to its North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies, and he has ordered reviews into the utility of remaining in UN agencies.
He has even declared that the US will drop out of the biggest — and arguably most important — accord in world history, the 196member Paris climate deal.
Former members of president Barack Obama’s administration are furious and bewildered at what they see as an abdication of US leadership.
“Once again, Trump is throwing into question the ability of the US to keep its commitment to international agreements,” former top aide Ben Rhodes said.
“Other nations will not want to enter into agreements with the US,” he warned.
For France’s top diplomat, “what is certain is that the role and meaning of multilateralism today are being called into question.
“We have a different view from the Trump administration on how to ensure global security. This is no reason not to speak with our American allies — on the contrary,” said French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.
Former US secretary of state John Kerry, a key architect of the Iran deal, called Trump’s decision a “reckless abandonment of facts in favour of ego and ideology”.
Trump, he said, “weakens our hand, alienates us from our allies, empowers Iranian hardliners, makes it harder to resolve (the) North Korean (problem) and risks moving us closer to military conflict.”
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who negotiated the deal on behalf of Teheran, said Trump’s move would do lasting damage to US credibility.
“Nobody else will trust any US administration to engage in any long-term negotiation because the length of any commitment, the duration of any commitment from now on with any US administration would be the remainder of the term of that president,” Zarif said.
Having failed to get through to Trump despite the support of some of his top advisers, European diplomats are now lobbying the US Congress to save the Iran deal.
Meanwhile, Trump’s hardened stance on the Iran deal will not have much impact on global oil prices, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh told state TV yesterday. Agencies