Trump’s foreign policy

US President Donald Trump is continuing his mission to alienate American allies as he flouts international law and diplomatic norms while converting his country into a rogue state. His latest move is to threaten to unilaterally reinstate UN sanctions on Iran, despite being voted down by the UN Security Council. And like the true professional that he is, he made the announcement while playing golf.

Trump is threatening a “snapback,” which is illegal because it would require the US to take action under the 2015 nuclear deal, which he violated when he withdrew the US from it. Trump has no legal standing to order any enforcement under it. The other remaining parties to the agreement still could, and have even shown an openness to extend the current arms embargo in some form. However, they want to keep the nuclear deal alive as a priority, which would require some give and take with Iran, especially on non-weapons sanctions. On the other hand, the US is trying to bully the world, laying down absolute conditions with nothing to offer for the other side.

Diplomacy is an art. Despite Moscow’s fraught relationship with most Western countries, Russian President Vladimir Putin made a push for an amicable solution by proposing a virtual summit with other world leaders to negotiate on the situation. With the US now past 5.5 million Covid-19 cases and 173,000 deaths, Trump’s arrogance knows no bound. As his incompetence and focus on golf continue to kill Americans, he refused to attend the summit “until after the election”.

Even the top US diplomat put his lack of diplomacy on display when he called out the UK and France for refusing to support the US resolution. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called it “unfortunate” that the two countries did not “support what the Gulf states have demanded, what the Israelis have demanded”. Pompeo apparently does not understand that countries typically determine foreign policies based on self-interest, not the interests of Israel or the Gulf states. Of course, that would explain why no US foreign policy moves in the last four years have been in its own interest.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 19^th, 2020.

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