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I will share some reflections on what I call blind (or shortsighted) hope that Trump is a panacea for all global woes, or at least most of them, or, at the very least, for Putin’s Russia’s war against Ukraine.
I won’t dwell at length on the following:
First, the U.S.’s shift far to the right, toward ultra-right extremism.
One reason for this shift is that the previously perfect value formula—WASP (White, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant)—which, through the American melting pot, provided direction and a recipe for success, is no longer functional. It was centrist at its core and effectively isolated the extremes.
Second, the de facto erosion of the still-de jure existing American two-party system.
I speak of erosion because each of the two parties in the U.S. is essentially split (or rather fractured, as the division may not be even) into two, objectively forming four parties, aptly labeled by an excellent Ukrainian political scientist as leftist, center-left, center-right, and frenzied.
Third, the dangerous support that American billionaire businessmen provide to Trump and the ultra-right.
Generally, the wealthiest individuals tend to lean heavily to the right and have close ties to power. However, for a long time in the U.S., they were “simply” wealthier—sometimes considerably—than the middle class. Today, this disparity is no longer just quantitative; it has become qualitative and malignant. We are no longer discussing the wealthiest 1% but the 0.1% megahyperultra-wealthy. This shift coincides with a fundamental change in the rules of life, particularly in business. The former golden rule of “The more talented, intelligent, enterprising, and capable one is, the more they achieve” has transformed into the dreadful rule of “The winner takes it all.” (Recall the ABBA song—it captures the fate of the defeated.)
Fourth, the absolute paradox that, seen not from within but from above, Americans of Jewish heritage (a very influential and critically significant community in the U.S.) are moving in the same direction as... the ultra-right, including Nazis. To me, this remains shocking. I realized—and wrote about it well before the elections—that Trump would win when I understood that Jews in the U.S. and globally overwhelmingly supported Trump, unconditionally and categorically.
I could continue with a fifth, sixth, seventh, or eighth point regarding matters I will not expound upon here.
I wish to highlight just this:
Setting aside the stubborn or fanatic supporters of Trump in our country (and not just ours), who cling to the hope that Trump will sweepingly resolve the major conflicts of our turbulent and troubling times, others who believe this make, in my view, a critically important mistake.
This mistake lies in continuing to believe that America is unparalleled in its global power, that the U.S. remains uniquely special in international politics, towering above all others, capable of achieving whatever it sets its mind to.
Yes, but the unipolar model is in deep crisis, not only regarding the U.S.’s unique global role but also its legitimacy.
The U.S. is not what it used to be.
• The U.S. no longer has its colossal superiority over other nations.
• The U.S. is not as united and focused on its great role.
• The U.S. is no longer a messianic state, a nation with a mission.
• The U.S. is no longer the City on a Hill or the Beacon of Democracy, and it is performing poorly as the Crusader for Democracy.
The U.S. still has, for now, a last chance to continue playing the role of the world’s sole superpower—but only if it has the West behind it, if it leads a united, integrated, consolidated, and solidary Euro-Atlantic community.
Undoubtedly, a leader is someone who leads, pulling others along. But in high politics, the reverse is also true—the leader's quality is defined by those they lead.
In recent years, not only because of Trump, the U.S. has consistently undermined the unity of the West, the Euro-Atlantic community.
Without this community behind it, U.S. leadership is crippled, flawed, blind, and impotent. A leader is truly great and powerful only when they lead a large and strong community.
The more divided, disintegrated, de-consolidated, and fragmented the Euro-Atlantic community becomes, the weaker, more simulated, more imitative, and more grotesque U.S. leadership appears.
Once, the Roman Empire split in two—the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire. Historically, it wasn’t long before the Western Roman Empire gave up the ghost. The Eastern Roman Empire, sometimes with dignity, sometimes barely holding on, outlived it by several centuries.
Today, the West—i.e., the Euro-Atlantic community—is not an empire, but the West is strong when it has a powerful leader and is united as a Euro-Atlantic community.
If it splits into two—conditionally speaking, the Western West and the Eastern West—the future looks grim for the West.
The Western West could very well meet the fate of the Western Roman Empire.
And the Eastern West, even if it outlasts its counterpart, will not do so for long—certainly not by centuries.
In today’s fragmented state of the West, my concern is that all hopes placed on Trump are an illusion, a delusion, wishful thinking, and blindness (or at least shortsightedness).
I fear that my concern is increasingly turning into conviction.
14 January 2025