DEBACLE IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE

In yet again an other impulsive, uninformed moment Trump destroyed years of American achievements. The famous Arabists in the State Department are a thing of the past.  Kissinger's painful shuttle diplomacy is being displaced by the vulgar doings of Pompeo, salesman for god and Trump. Other unsavory characters complete a nightmarish tableau. In the end America looks both incompetent and clueless. 

Turkey is supposed to be a NATO partner. The alliance which looked already like a loveless marriage did not need both an unreliable steward at the helm and a Judas in its midst. The American vice-president is leaving on a mission, to do what? Indeed, this B-movie has neither the actors nor the plot to sustain it.

All this comes together with the Brexit farce, for which there is no good outcome, whatever the compromise this week might look like.

The fact is that the United States is for unforeseeable time an embarrassment led by an accident of historical dimension. The expertise was cleared in favor of corruption. As a result the West is losing its critical mass and soft-power. Populism is being accused of a lot, but it is too easy to hide plain stupidity under some theoretical fallacy. One has to face the painful reality of a Western world hijacked by third parties for sure, but mostly suffering from wounds that are self-inflicted.The expected outrage is on vacation. The timid, non-intellectual, morally blurred observations heard here and there lack any form of gravitas.

Since the West choses the way of induced coma, other players pile up the gains. Russia and China will soon be joined by India, Japan, and others who will find their way in a world of artificial intelligence and links (see the Chinese Belt and Road worldwide ambition) that "consider" Europe as a terminal and the US as quantite negligeable, almost. Trump's killing of Obama's Asia First strategy is yet again a form of suicide by ignorance.

There is wisdom to be found in reluctance. There is an added value to be won in multi-lateralism. Europe no longer considers Trump's America as a partner with whom values and interests--geopolitical or cultural-can be shared. The bilateral relationship of yesterday sits on ice. Iraq was almost a breaking point but the problem was therapeutically saved by contrition. Here and now the problem has metastasized and Europeans have to look for a modus vivendi at their Eastern, Western and Southern borders. They had better monitor what happens at their Northern borders likewise. Blackmailed by trade wars, immigration waves and agression by stealth, they find themselves in a non-enviable position, alone, without Big Brother.

Trump is the cause of this macro-disruption worldwide. It is time to call the evil by its name. If the Americans were to give him four more years, they would confirm all the many (unfair) prejudices that rule in their disfavor. Trump mentioned Normandy, he had better take a walk on Omaha Beach and reflect on what America then fought for. If he were to understand, he might still be saved.  Unfortunately the chances are nihil.