Trump puts last nail in diplomacy

Dear editor: Donald Trump probably has no idea what he’s done but, by unilaterally withdrawing from the Iran deal, he’s put the final nail in the coffin of U.S. international diplomacy.

It seems likely that he is obsessed by undoing everything Barack Obama achieved but is oblivious to the ongoing ramifications of his actions.

Prior to his inauguration, it was an understood practice that any agreement reached by preceding U.S. presidents be honoured by any new administration. If they didn’t like a particular agreement, they would attempt to negotiate modifications to that agreement but, in the meantime, the original agreement would be honoured.

However, Trump ruffled international feathers by withdrawing from the Trans Pacific Partnership and the Paris climate change accord and now has withdrawn from the Iran nuclear agreement.

The message sent to International governments is that any agreement reached with the USA is good only as long as the current incumbent remains in office and will not necessarily be honoured by his successor. The logical conclusion by other governments is that trying to reach long-term agreements with the U.S. is pointless.

This will hog-tie U.S. negotiators (including those working for the Trump administration) because other governments will treat long term commitments by the U.S. as not being worth the paper they’re written on. It will take decades to re-establish this lost trust and likely the next two or three U.S. presidents after Trump will suffer, and this is assuming that all of those Presidents serve two full terms in office.

It is likely that full trust will not be re-established unless and until a constitutional amendment is implemented requiring a U.S. president to honour his predecessors’ international agreements, and the process for enacting a constitutional amendment takes decades. Brian Butler Penticton