The United States is once again an imperial power. Called “Realism” by General Kellogg, and others in the Trump orbit, the rest of us can recognize what the United States of America is doing as naked aggression. From the demands on Denmark for Greenland, Panama for the Canal, Canada for all of its territory, Gaza in Palestine, and Ukraine for its mineral resources, the U.S. under Trump has switched sides from working with the democracies of the world to becoming one of the Axis of Chaos (Russia, China, Iran and North Korea). This does not mean that there are not still many good Americans resisting this transformation internally. What it does mean, though, is that those who believe in democracy and the rule of law must wake up to recognize what is going on, let go of what used to be, and build toward what comes next.
Both domestically and internationally, those who believe in democracy and the rule of law are currently on the back foot. Surprise, alarm, indignation, and shock have led to the Flight, Fight, Freeze, Fawn, or Faint (5F) trauma response. We can see it in the actions of the democrats inside the United States, the leaders of NATO, the European Union, Colombia, El Salvador, Panama, and Ukraine. As each interacts with Trump and his team, they have at least one of the 5F responses. It is time to move beyond these responses and begin to act with others to adapt to the situation which exists and find a way to thrive in the future.
Recognizing what is
Donald Trump views himself as a strong man. He likes others he sees as strong men, such as Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, Benjamin Netanyahu, Kim Jung Un, Victor Orban, etc. He has joined, and talked the electorate of the United States of America into joining, their club. The United States of today is an imperialist country intent on upending what was the world order to carve out spheres of influence. Trump and his team have declared this intent.
From quickly reaching out to Russia, behind Ukraine’s back, to make a “Peace Deal” what Trump has done is provide Russia an economic and political lifeline. By accusing Ukraine of starting the war, and making a separate peace with a declared enemy of democracy and the rule of law, he is sacrificing the victim to get closer to the aggressor. The reason for this is Trump does not care about Ukraine, about European security, or what Russia does in its “near abroad”. What Trump wants is a blank check to operate across the Americas, leaving Europe to splinter while fending for itself against an imperialist Russia.
Trump is working to copy Russia’s playbook domestically and globally. Within the United States’ borders he is sidelining any resistance and eliminating any threat to his regime. He has moved quickly to attack what his team call “The Deep State” by eliminating entire government agencies funded by Congress. This gives him a three-for by removing those experts who would resist his policies on the grounds they are illegal, silencing Congress by removing its Power of The Purse, and going around the courts by ignoring legal rulings and threatening judges with impeachment.
Regionally, Trump is also copying Putin’s playbook by threatening his neighbors and farther afield to create a sphere of influence in the Americas and the Middle East. Perverting the Monroe Doctrine, which declared the America’s off limits to conflicting European Powers in the 19th century, Trump and team are declaring open season on Canada, Panama, Greenland as areas within the United States “backyard” sphere of influence who will be under U.S. control. Going beyond that, he is working to “Own” Gaza, turning it into a construction and development site by removing the two million Palestinians who live in what is left of the area after Israel’s comprehensive destruction. There is a reason Trump has espoused the greatness of President McKinley beyond tariffs. It is because it was under McKinley the United States became an imperial power. Trump wants to recreate that.
We are in a world where the United States is an agent of violent change to borders, lives, supply chains, economic power distribution, and the international legal system. We need to see the United States for what it is now: a regime led by a tin-pot dictator on par with those this dictator admires.
Letting go of what was
Recognizing the United States for what it is today is to let go of what it used to be. It was never perfect, and it is responsible for some horrible acts in the past, yet the United States was a sponsor and original founder of an international system based on the Rule of Law, on democratic institutions, of collective security through NATO, on free trade and international cooperation to solve international problems. We must let go of that notion of the United States. It does not currently exist and may not exist again in that form. This does not mean giving up on those Americans who want such a country to exist again. This does not mean letting go of these ideas and ideals. This does not mean we cannot support those working to create these things anew.
What it means to let go is to get over the shock of what is happening now. Get over the daily deluge of attacks against democracy, NATO, the rule of law, free trade, international institutions, and begin to expect this from The United States, Russia, and others.
What this means is rather than grasping for what was, we need to look forward and start to build what comes next.
Building What’s Next
There are still many in the world who believe in democracy, the rule of law, free trade, international institutions, the rights of people to live their own lives, collective security, and the obligation of those who lead to represent the people, not dictate to them. Those who believe in these things must work together to build systems across the world. Whether that means countries working together or people working together despite their country’s current government, there is work to be done to build a new global system based on respect, dignity, collaboration, collective action, law, representation, sustainability, and caring about the people who make up the system.
None of us know exactly what this world will look like in the end, but we do have a kernel of it in the ideals of the founding of The United States of America and of the European Union. There is a reason so many people immigrated to the United States so much over the past 200 years, and are arriving in the EU, and striving to join the EU now. The concept of different people coming together with a shared ideal of what can be, working to build toward those ideals, and finding a messy democratic way of turning those ideals into imperfect yet resilient realities. Over time evolving those realities to meet the needs of the people more effectively, and through the actions of all together creating something no one country or group could have created alone.
It could be something like a democracy union, with like-minded countries, regions, or people subscribing from across the planet.
Whatever comes next, the key is to begin building it today. We who believe in something other than dictatorship must offer an alternative. We who believe in democracy must offer opportunity. We who believe in the rule of law must offer hope to those who now find themselves behind walls they did not want built.
There is a world beyond this current chaos. It is time to move beyond shock, let go of what’s been lost, and begin building something even better than what we had before. I am not thankful to Putin, Trump and others for the suffering they are inflicting on millions of people around the world. I am, though, hopeful for the future of humanity if we who want a future work together to build one from the ashes of what was.