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.
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.”