Living in Trump age

There are too many things one can say about President Donald Trump depending whether a person is conservative from the right-base or liberal. At best, he is controversial and unconventional, unlike other presidents who moved upward from within the political establishment. He has arisen to power due to his effective exploitation of popular disenchantment with the party politics at popular level. He is not groomed well in the etiquettes and conventions of politics — national or international.

Rather, his folksy style has been popular among common men and women in the rural mid-western states — the people he has often referred to as neglected. He continues to be direct, frank, open and unvarnished in his comments on national and international issues. His use of Twitter for announcing his major policy initiatives, political decisions and comments on any event, person or problem is equally unusual, which mainstream political figures around the world may regard as acentric. He is quite impulsive, cannot hold his views back.

Trump is hasty and rash for a president of the United States. He lacks the quality of being thoughtful, reflective or wisely calculating the fallout of what he says. His promptness and unpredictability leave the world leaders guessing about his next move. Not sure whether it is a mark of strength, which it can be in some circumstances, or weakness for the most powerful leader of the world. In many cases, his suddenness in announcing policies has caused him and his associates embarrassment and reversals.

The tweet on Pakistan is unique in harshness, very direct, impolite and undiplomatic. Let me fresh on the choice of words: “The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than $33 billion in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools.” There is a clear message of policy change towards Pakistan, which has been in the making. It seems the last round of diplomatic engagement that brought the US defence secretary to Pakistan failed to satisfy the American side. I guess the message was not unexpected for the foreign policy and security establishment that has been in conversation with the US for long on bridging the real or perceptual gap in our policies towards Afghanistan and the war on terror. What was not expected was perhaps the portrayal of Pakistan as ‘liar’ and ‘deceitful’.

Is it end of the long and troublesome engagement with the United States? Not really. It shouldn’t be that way. Pakistan is today in a much difficult situation inside the country and in relation to the world at large. Responding impulsively to the tweet of President Trump will be unwise. It has always been painful to hear such a language after making so many sacrifices — 70,000 civilians and close to 15,000 security personnel — martyred. Americans dealing with Pakistan and Afghanistan also know what Pakistan has done in the war on terror. In responding to the US, we should also be mindful of what the United States had done for us. About $33 billion given to Pakistan in diverse areas of national security, development and economy is not a small amount.

There must have been a quid pro quo — there is no free lunch, when it comes to dealing with foreign powers. This was our choice. In making such choices, I am afraid to say, our leaders had no self-respect either for themselves or for the nation. This relationship has gone bad. Even then, let us use diplomacy to repair this vital relationship; if not, then disengage with honour and dignity — not by using the same language as President Trump has used.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 3^rd, 2018.

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