A deep speculation of Trump’s four years in the office and his tackling of the novel coronavirus pandemic have given us some important takeaways which might influence Trump’s second presidential campaign. With the Second World War fought to end the threat posed by nationalism in Europe and Cold War to contain the spread of communism, the US had not only emerged victorious but had also gained unprecedented power which allowed them to influence global events.
Nevertheless, Trump’s ascendency to power after 2016 has led to the rise of beliefs and methods of governance which prove to be the antithesis of globalism. As a result, not only did the US leadership face a severe blow with respect to their democratic values and liberal ideas but Trumpism radically altered the structuring of the global order. With the presidential elections around the corner, Trump has demonstrated his incompetence through his actions and statements. His mishandling of Covid-19 at home has highlighted his inability to develop a national strategy and questioned his ability to govern the powerful nation. However, the most disturbing move under Trump’s presidency was the polarisation of politics where he encouraged the extreme right to challenge the extreme leftist.
It is apparent that Trump in his second term will unlikely be changing his governing philosophy. With regard to foreign policy, the US under his administration will not level down its antagonism with China and continue to embolden Israel by allowing it to assume a leadership status in the Middle East, polarising the region against its nemesis, Iran. Consequently, under the lieu of peace, countries like Palestine and Kashmir will be denied of their rights of attaining statehood and aggressor states such as India and Israel will continue to extend their hegemonic and expansionist designs.
Hadia Mukhtar
Karachi
Published in The Express Tribune, September 17th, 2020.
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