Donald Trump’s bruising return to the White House has sent many longtime foreign allies scrambling to get their distance, and according to a new piece from The Atlantic, that distance will last long after Trump is gone.
Trump’s second term as president has been marked by notable and widespread disrespect toward nations once seen as close U.S. allies. Between his attempts to level massive tariffs against nearly every nation in the world and his frequent breaches of diplomatic norms, Trump has created a hostile global environment in which allies no longer feel safe trusting in the stability of the U.S.
In a new piece for The Atlantic on Tuesday, staff writer Vivian Salama argued that this new dynamic, in which the nations of the world are working to establish a safe distance from the U.S., is bound to become the new normal for years to come, even after Trump leaves office and is potentially replaced by a more traditional, dependable administration.
Why is the typical American response always “No U!” ?
The problem is not that Republicans are far-right. Nowhere in the article does it say former allies are distancing themselves because of the far-right in America. The problem is the actions of the administration: a single person constantly threatening allies, tearing up agreements from previous administrations just because, tearing up agreements from his own administration just because, and zero resistance from the other branches of government or the citizens for doing so.
Former allies are distancing themselves because the word of the US means absolutely nothing. It doesn’t matter what they promise, the US has shown no deal or agreement will ever be honored, and there are no mechanisms in place to make sure previous agreements are honored. Why would anyone make a deal with someone who will ignore it the next day?
It’s typical American learned helplessness: “The far right exists everywhere in the world so there’s nothing we can do about it.”
That is precisely the opposite of what I meant.
Ideology is what gives Trump the power to do what he wants, what put him there, what enables him and stokes him. He is a symptom.
I am arguing the exact opposite; not that there is nothing that can be done, but that other countries should take the exact opposite approach the US took and take immediate, drastic action before it’s too late.
I did not mean to drag specific US politics into this at all, but to use it as an example when one assumes their country is on a better trajectory than it actually is. The EU is not in a good place, Australia and Canada are not on good trajectories, and if they don’t act as if they are one election away from populist fascism, other countries will find themselves with leaders trashing alliances, too.
In other words:
This article ^ could be your future.
If you’re confident your voter base is “above that,” you should take a closer look.
Which is part of my issue. The article is specifically about US politics, and you don’t want to talk about US politics, instead you go on a tangent about other countries.
A contributing factor to the issues in the US is that Americans seem to be unable to stay on topic about anything long enough to take action. Trump does something that would have ended the political career of any other president, but before anything is done about it you’re taking about the next thing, and then the next thing, and the first thing is already forgotten.
Here we are talking about the impact of the actions the US government is currently taking, and Americans start taking about how other countries might start doing it in the future. On another article that was about a far right party in another country I saw Americans talking about “all the people who told us to take action…” Making it about America. It’s never about the actual topic.
Yes, I realize it’s “not all Americans”, but it is “always an American”. And I don’t mean when it happens it’s an America doing it, I mean every time an article is posted about the shitstorm happening in the US there is always an American pointing out that the far right exist elsewhere. It gets so fucking old and it isn’t helpful. People know. Pointing out the nightmare happening in the US does not mean people are unaware of the far right in their own countries, and talking about what is happening in the US is more helpful to encourage people to prevent it happening in their own countries because they can see where it leads.
I was responding to this comment:
I see this “it’s not the same here” attitude a lot, because it is. I think it’s dangerous to write it off as “America did this to themselves,” like the same thing isn’t in progress all over the globe.
I’m specifically not trying to belittle other places, or look down upon them; I have no leg to stand on. I am trying to WARN them to not get comfortable. I am yelling “this exact same shit is cooking in Canada, and Australia, the EU, all over the world, so burn it out with fire while you can.”