Trump's America: An Isolated, Dissatisfied Hegemon
23 December 2017By Muhittin Ataman
Due to its unilateral and irresponsible foreign policy and conflicting
political discourse, Trump's America instigated the rise of anti-Americanism
even in friendly countries
Donald Trump, who had no experience in politics, became the president of the
United States with his famous motto "America first."
While Trump and his aides try to "make America great again," unconsciously,
they have sped up the decline of American hegemony due to their unilateral
foreign policy understanding and exclusionary political discourse.
The U.S. now is notorious not only in the eyes of its challengers, but also in
the eyes of its long-time allies and friends.
Trump's America has begun to alienate almost all its partners, from the
narrowest circle to the widest one, from Anglo-Saxon friends to European
partners, from Latin American neighbors to Asian rivals, from Sub-Sahara to
North Africa.
Trump's America contradicts its closest ally, the United Kingdom. The latest
two cases, in which the Trump administration contradicted the May government,
are Trump's proclamation on Jerusalem and retweeting inflammatory videos
shared by a British ultra-nationalist politician.
Similar to almost all European countries, the U.K. government also rejected
Trump's decision on Jerusalem. In her official statement, British Prime
Minister Theresa May pointed out that her government disagrees with Trump's
decision.
Similarly, all sides of the House of Commons condemned the decision. Moreover,
Prime Minister May denounced President Trump for sharing abusive and
threatening videos posted by Jayda Fransen, the deputy leader of Britain
First, a far-right political party in the U.K.
Trump, who is against the global free trade order established by Pax
Americana, declared the end of the era of multinational trade agreements.
As soon as he came to power, Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific
Partnership (TTP). As a result, the 11 Pacific Rim countries, which had total
trade of $350 billion last year, decided to resurrect the partnership and
start free trade.
Trump's America initiated a comprehensive trade war with European countries.
Trump promised to scrap the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).
Nevertheless, he claimed that it would limit imports of steel and aluminum to
protect domestic companies.
The European Union will retaliate against any sanctions imposed by the U.S.
against European companies. EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker had to
declare that the EU's mood "is increasingly combative" on the topic of
international trade.
Furthermore, 25 EU member states signed a defense cooperation agreement and
decided to establish Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO), which will
decrease their dependence on NATO, and as a result their dependence on the
U.S.
Latin American countries, which are considered as the "near abroad" of the
U.S. since the early years of the 19th century, consistently complain about
threats from the U.S. Similarly, most Asian countries have many political and
economic divergences with Trump's America. Trump even attempted to renegotiate
the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
Trump's America otherizes Islamic civilization and Muslims worldwide,
including American and European Muslims, who are citizens of Western
countries. Trump's anti-Islamic and anti-immigration rhetoric damages American
global perception.
In particular, after the Jerusalem decision, it would not be surprising if
anti-Americanism skyrockets in Muslim countries. Although it will satisfy the
Israeli government and his constituency, the unpopularity of Trump's America
is growing in the Muslim world.
Two developments last Monday punctuated America's increasing isolation. The
first was the vote on a resolution demanding the rejection of Trump's decision
on Jerusalem. All 14 members of the 15-member U.N. Security Council, including
the staunchest U.S. allies such as the U.K., voted for the resolution. The
U.S. was alone.
The second was the announcement of the new national security strategy. Trump
declared global powers such as Russia and China, middle states such as Iran
and North Korea and non-state actors as multiple threats challenging U.S.
interests.
While the strategy aims to fight these multiple challenges, it rejects
multiple cooperation initiatives such as multiple free trade agreements.
As a result, due to its unilateral and irresponsible foreign policy behavior
and conflictual political discourse, Trump's America instigated the rise of
anti-Americanism even in friendly countries such as the U.K., Germany, Mexico
and Turkey.
Most observers from both the U.S. and other Western circles claim that Trump's
strategy is not sustainable and that it will turn out to be self-destructive.
Soon to be a lone hegemon, Trump's America is seen as an unreliable partner by
most of its partners and allies. Trump's unpredictable and domestically driven
foreign policy discourse confuses not only foreign governments but also most
of the American public.
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