The American Wound

Two major differences separate Kamala Harris and Donald Trump: One is foreign policy. If Harris wins, the U.S. will try to drop its role as the world’s police officer, as Biden did in Afghanistan. Its international policy will not imply a change, but rather a nuance — there have been so many.

Revolution in the international scene may come with Trump. His team is no longer improvising, as they were in 2016. Trump’s international plan aims to cancel the interventionism that, with fabulous successes such as World War I and World War II, and clamorous mistakes such as those in Vietnam and Iraq, has characterized the behavior of the preeminent power.

Trump wants to bury the legacy of Woodrow Wilson, one of the most well-meaning presidents, and yet the unwitting creator of a hornets’ nest in the Middle East. He wants to close all U.S. files regarding the rest of the world. To this end, he would like to push for a new Yalta agreement, which would imply sharing the planet with China and Russia to eliminate problems — to stabilize the world by making a pact with the enemies so that the three hegemonic powers can share the planet without fear of interference from others.

It is the plan of a pragmatist, indifferent to ideals, an enormous plan affecting those countries below each circle of influence, which could result in the loss of all hope for freedom.

As for Europe, we already know we will have to pay for our own defense, reconstruction of what remains of Ukraine and containing the confusing mess of Africa. As if that were not enough, Trump would encourage severe dumping, moving Europe’s leading industries to the United States.

The other big difference between Trump and Harris is cultural. If the Democrats win, supporters of anthropological deconstruction and identity fragmentation will be able to consolidate their cultural revolution throughout the West. A Trump win will set the conservative counterrevolution in motion throughout the West and, at the same time, all the anarcho-capitalist currents that exploded — especially during the pandemic — will have an enormous capacity for influence: from anti-vaccine advocates to the supporters of fetal cells therapies.

With the Democrats, the open society endorsed by the left will favor the definitive expansion of “woke” thinking, which, for example, identifies the life of a dog and that of a human being on the same scale, or affirms that gender is an imposition of the patriarchy. With Republicans, the counter-reformation will favor the closing of national borders throughout the West and will reinforce the idea that individual freedom is sacred and that the state must be reduced to a minimum.

Civil Fracture Is More Decisive Than Trump or Harris’ Victory

Of course, election rhetoric does not usually refer to these issues, but one of the characteristics of American society (and of Western societies in general) is that the range of nuances within each bloc (Democratic, Republican) is eclipsed by the radicalism of extremists, who, in recent decades, have increasingly prevailed. However, more decisive than the victory of Trump or Harris is the risk of civil fracture that this election will intensify. The most extreme Democratic and Republican fringe groups will not accept the results if their candidate loses.

In my opinion, herein lies the real historic challenge of this particular moment for the U.S. and the world: The election process will not take a single day, as it does in Europe, but will continue for about four months. Voting by mail will soon begin, and if it all comes down to a few hundred thousand votes as it did in 2020, the results will be subject to review at all levels, city by city, state by state, court by court until Jan. 20, 2025 (although wild street battles might last longer).

Meanwhile, the world’s leading power will inevitably suffer a certain paralysis. Who knows what will happen then, in the three world conflict situations (Ukraine-Russia, Israel-Palestine-Iran, Asia-Pacific and South Pacific)! No alternative power would waste a few months of American solipsism, which will leave Europe even more helpless, even more divided and bewildered.