As the world snickers, Trump undermines global security
ideology of globalism and accept the doctrine of patriotism,” the president said. “America will always choose independence and cooperation over global governance, control and domination.”
This formulation is not only ignorant of history but undercuts Trump’s own goals.
Let’s start with history. As French President Emmanuel Macron pointed out in a speech that rebuked Trump, rabid nationalism led to two world wars.
To prevent a third such war, the United States helped build multilateral political and economic institutions. These included the United Nations and the precursors to the European Union, which helped keep the peace in Europe for 70 years. They also included NATO.
“Nationalism always leads to defeat,” Macron said passionately. “If … the international order becomes fragile … this can lead as we have already seen twice, to global war. We saw that with our very own eyes.”
So the “ideology of globalism” is not some nefarious plot by Lilliputians to trap an American Gulliver. Not only did Washington create the postwar order, it has a veto over just about every multilateral group to which it belongs.
The idea that such institutions exert “global domination” is the kind of nonsense that used to be propagated by nutcase militias that believed unmarked U.N. “black helicopters” were secretly patrolling America as a prelude to a takeover.
Yes, post-war multilateral organizations badly need reform. But Trump makes clear his disdain for anything multilateral. He prefers one-on-one summits with adversaries like North Korea, Russia, or China, where he thinks he can best their leaders (and can ignore his briefers).
And his fetish for unilateralism undercuts the goals he set out in his U.N. speech.
Let’s start with Iran, the main target of Trump’s wrath this week. The president has pulled the United States out of the nuclear deal negotiated with Tehran by Washington and its European allies, and endorsed by the U.N. Security Council. Trump’s rationale: The deal failed to address Iran’s work on missiles or its aggressive behavior in the region and had a sunset clause that would eliminate key curbs on Tehran’s nuclear program after 10 to 15 years.
Trump wants the European allies to restore sanctions against Tehran, as Washington will do in early November. But they have so far refused, saying (correctly) that Iran hasn’t violated the pact’s terms.
More to the point: At Trump’s request, the Europeans had been working hard on a second deal with Tehran, trying to address Trump’s concerns. Key Trump advisers proposed giving the Europeans a chance; had they failed, they would have been open to restoring sanctions.
Instead, Trump stiffed the allies and went it alone. Now he must battle the Europeans, along with China and Russia, on the sanctions issue — undercutting the united front needed to curb Iran in the region.
Similarly, Trump has undercut global cooperation needed to keep tight sanctions against North Korea. His one-on-one lovefest with Rocket Man led Russia and China to weaken sanctions pressure before Kim shows any readiness to eliminate his nukes.
And why would Trump start trade wars with European allies and China at the same time when he needs a united trade front to have any chance against Beijing?
Answer: Trump’s “doctrine of patriotism” is an ego trip, drawn from his core belief that everyone is out to take advantage of America. It ignores the need to uphold international rules needed to confront adversaries. It undercuts America’s standing as a global leader.
The tittering U.N. audience got it. Rather than putting America First, the president’s speech was all about Trump.