The New American Isolationism

Published in Jornal i
(Portugal) on 17 July 2018
by Luís Menezes Leitão (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Andreia Pinto. Edited by Barbara Finkemeyer.

 

 

While abandoning his allies, Trump is rehearsing a strategy of detente toward his traditional enemies, having already met with Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin.

For a long time, Europe has lived under the American umbrella. First, Europe relied on the United States’ help to rebuild European economies just after World War II through the Marshall Plan. Europe counted on the United States to take care of European defense, with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization being created precisely to contain the expansion of the United Soviet Socialist Republic on the European continent after the countries of Eastern Europe fell behind the Iron Curtain. As a result, Europe got used to seeing the United States play the role of the world's policeman, and the protector of Europe from any threat, with NATO being used to interfere in the Balkans conflict beginning in1992 and even in Libya in 2011.

Donald Trump’s election has radically altered this state of affairs. This change was noticeable from his inaugural speech, in which he proclaimed the words "America first." This is the same slogan used during World War II by people who were against any American intervention in the conflict at the time, and who managed to postpone intervention until the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor made it inevitable. At the time, Trump’s words were mocked by many Europeans who spread videos showing them putting their country in second place after America. Nobody wanted to understand that Trump’s words meant a whole new policy of American nationalism and noninterventionism, for which the Europeans should have been properly prepared. Unfortunately, they were not.

Since then, Trump has shown all his contempt for international agreements and institutions, adopting protectionism as his main policy. He pulled the United States out of the Paris climate agreement, proclaiming that the U.S. was more concerned with the inhabitants of Pittsburgh than with those of Paris, and imposed tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, affecting trade with Europe and Canada. He has not done it yet, but it is clear that he will later tax German car imports, which could severely damage Europe's current economic engine. While abandoning his allies, Trump is rehearsing a strategy of detente toward his traditional enemies, having already met with Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin.

Curiously, this meeting comes after two summits, one of the Group of Seven leading industrial nations and another of NATO, in which Trump practically shook the foundations of these institutions. Trump thus shows much more consideration for America’s traditional enemies than for its former allies.

Even America's oldest ally, the United Kingdom, has not escaped Trump. On his visit to London, already knowing that he was going to be met with protests, Trump reacted with his usual behavior. He attacked the London mayor, threw Theresa May under a bus with an interview in which he criticized a soft Brexit and praised Boris Johnson, and broke the rigid and established protocol for meeting with the queen. If they had had any doubts, the British were made to realize that they were no longer among Trump's priorities.

This change is not exactly new. Lord Palmerston, a 19th-century English prime minister, said, "England has no eternal allies or perpetual enemies. England’s interests are eternal and perpetual."* Today, Trump’s America is following this rule. Trump’s interests have been articulated — to be re-elected in 2020. Since today’s Europeans who protest against him in the streets do not vote in U.S. elections, he is quite capable of achieving exactly that.

The author is a professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon.

* Editor’s note: The original quote by Lord Palmerston is: “We have no eternal allies and we have no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual ...”


O novo isolacionismo americano

Ao mesmo tempo que abandona os seus aliados, Trump ensaia uma estratégia de détente com os seus inimigos tradicionais, já tendo reunido com King Jon-un e encontrando-se com Putin

Durante imenso tempo, a Europa viveu debaixo do guarda-chuva americano. Primeiro contou com os Estados Unidos para assegurar a sua recuperação económica logo a seguir à ii Guerra Mundial, através do Plano Marshall. Depois contou com os Estados Unidos para assegurar a sua defesa, tendo a NATO sido formada precisamente para conter o expansionismo da URSS no continente europeu, depois de todos os países do leste terem sucumbido à Cortina de Ferro. A Europa habituou-se assim a contar com os Estados Unidos para fazerem o papel de polícia do mundo e defenderem a Europa de tudo o que a ameaçasse, tendo a NATO inclusivamente sido usada para intervir no conflito dos Balcãs a partir de 1992 e até na Líbia em 2011.

A eleição de Trump alterou radicalmente este estado de coisas, sendo essa mudança logo visível desde o seu discurso de tomada de posse, onde proclamou as palavras “America first”. Esse é o mesmo slogan usado durante a ii Guerra Mundial pelos que se opunham a qualquer intervenção americana no conflito e que a conseguiram adiar até que o ataque japonês a Pearl Harbor a tornou inevitável. Estas palavras de Trump foram na altura recebidas com chacota pelos europeus, tendo-se multiplicado vídeos a colocar o seu país em segundo lugar depois da América. Ninguém quis compreender que as mesmas significavam toda uma nova política de nacionalismo e de anti-intervencionismo americano, para a qual os europeus se deveriam adequadamente preparar. Infelizmente, não o fizeram.

Desde então, Trump tem mostrado todo o seu desprezo pelos acordos e instituições internacionais, adoptando o proteccionismo como principal política. Tirou os Estados Unidos do Acordo de Paris, proclamando que estava mais preocupado com os habitantes de Pittsburgh do que com os de Paris, e lançou taxas sobre a importação de aço e alumínio, afectando o comércio com a Europa e com o Canadá. Ainda não o fez, mas é manifesto que a seguir vai taxar as importações de carros alemães, o que pode provocar um forte rombo no actual motor económico da Europa. Ao mesmo tempo que abandona os seus aliados, Trump ensaia uma estratégia de détente com os seus inimigos tradicionais, já tendo reunido positivamente com King Jong-un e realizando agora um encontro com Putin. Curiosamente, esse encontro ocorre depois de duas cimeiras, uma do G7 e outra da NATO, em que Trump praticamente partiu a loiça toda destas instituições. Trump mostra assim muito mais consideração pelos tradicionais inimigos da América do que pelos seus antigos aliados.

Mesmo o aliado mais antigo da América, o Reino Unido, não escapou a Trump. Na sua visita a Londres, já sabendo que ia ser recebido com protestos, Trump reagiu da forma habitual. Atacou o mayor de Londres, tirou o tapete a Theresa May com uma entrevista a criticar o soft-Brexit e a elogiar Boris Johnson, e desconsiderou o rígido protocolo estabelecido para os encontros com a rainha. Se tinham dúvidas, os britânicos ficaram a saber que já não fazem parte das prioridades de Trump.

Esta mudança não é propriamente novidade. Lord Palmerston, primeiro-ministro inglês no séc. xix, referiu que “a Inglaterra não tem amigos eternos nem inimigos perpétuos. A Inglaterra tem é eternos e perpétuos interesses”. Hoje é a América de Trump a seguir esta regra. Quanto ao interesse dele, foi agora anunciado: obter a sua reeleição em 2020. E como os europeus que hoje protestam contra ele nas ruas não votam nas eleições americanas, é bem capaz de o conseguir.
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