US Foreign Policy under Trump – Part 2

Under Trump will the US Foreign Policy change vis-a-vis NATO & Russia?

December 16, 2016

This is the second part of this series. Part 1 can be accessed here.

[dropcap color=”#008040″ boxed=”yes” boxed_radius=”8px” class=”” id=””]W[/dropcap]hen discussing current world events one has to take into consideration a great deal of propaganda that emerges from the media. Propaganda is defined as positioning truth on its head by outright lies, partial truths, statistics and false facts. Consequently, value judgements are left to the reader. Another consideration is that the past is not a true predictor of the future so that Donald Trump’s declared views today are not necessarily cast in stone.

Today, almost 90% of the world’s nuclear weapons are held by the US and Russia.

If Trump does not change his mind, he can take credit for averting World War III which would have been a deadly nuclear war, especially for Eastern Europe. His almost childish wish, “Wouldn’t it be a great thing if we could actually get along with Russia?” was greeted with cheers in the Russian Duma.

Several writers and thinkers felt that towards the end of 2016 the world was on the brink of a world war. Daniel Davies¹ felt that if the US took Raqqa, the capital of ISIS, the “moderate” Syrian rebels with US aid would have to confront Assad and his Russian allies directly through a nuclear exchange.

Tyler Durden² noted that the “Globalists are setting the stage for World War III.” By the end of 2016, the stage was set. The Globalists were waiting for the US Presidential elections and hoping that Hillary Clinton would execute the plan. Briefly, the move towards the Russian border started when the US reneged on its agreement not to move towards Russia’s borders, if Russia approved the reunification of Germany and allowed Germany to be a member of NATO, noted distinguished British correspondent, Jonathan Power.³ The US then claimed to be building a radar system in Eastern Europe, ostensibly to curb Iranian power, though the Russians believed it was against them. US Defence Secretary William Perry felt that the US had squandered an opportunity to befriend Russia. President Obama made a slight adjustment to existing hardware by changing long range to medium range missiles. Today, almost 90% of the world’s nuclear weapons are held by the US and Russia.

Aggressive moves eastwards by NATO reached its peak in 2016 when the US combined Poland’s Anaconda 2016⁴ with other exercises in the Baltics. Anaconda is a giant snake which swallows its prey and the suggestion was that NATO should swallow its eastern prey. Poland had good reason to help the US in leading these exercises. Poland was partitioned for 123 years by Austria, Prussia and Russia. During Communist rule it was not allowed to celebrate its independence, won on November 11, 1918. ⁵ With 31,000 NATO troops from 24 countries ready for action on Russia’s border, the New York Times Editorial Board called for war: “This is not a drill: NYT Editorial Board lays groundwork for war with Russia. Can’t wait.”⁶ Ben Bagdikian, Dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at Berkeley noted that 90% of the American media was controlled by five corporations and they form a cartel that influences US politics and values.⁷ Christoph Germann noted too that the “Washington War Party urges Obama to go to War against Assad and the Russians.”⁸

[dropcap color=”#008040″ boxed=”yes” boxed_radius=”8px” class=”” id=””]T[/dropcap]here were many reasons why the call to war was not heeded. Obama was not going to start a war and ruin his legacy. Besides, he lost one of his top generals US Army Major General John Rossi who was “overwhelmed by his responsibilities” according to the official explanation. Rossi was barely 55, had 33 years of service in the army and was loyal to the country. The announcement of his death was delayed and that caused a great deal of suspicion.

Russia had developed more powerful nuclear weapons for defensive purposes and is ahead of the US in some weapons.

Poland had its own domestic critics. Director of the Institute of Advanced study and founder of Krytyka Polityczna Slawomir Sierakowski noted that liberal democracy was no longer the canon of western politics. Poland was the largest recipient of EU funds, yet opposed further integration, did not belong to the euro, wanted to depend on coal and fought with Germany, France and EU governing institutions. The critic implied that Poland was not entirely in sync with the EU.

Lastly, but not least, Russia was not going to lose 20 million troops as it did under Operation Barbarossa in 1941. Russia had developed more powerful nuclear weapons for defensive purposes and is ahead of the US in some weapons.

Trump’s policy of non-interference in the Baltics and Ukraine mean that these European areas will come under Russia’s sphere of influence. By invitation, Russia agreed to defend the Assad regime at all cost and should Assad gain control of all Syria, American influence in the Middle East will suffer markedly.

Artem Kureev⁹ has already spotted NATO’s change of policy to accommodate Trump’s view: Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg said that his organisation’s priority is terrorism, not Russia. Trump is not pro-Russia but is merely following the rules of realpolitik. Trump might even favour a European Army to replace NATO, if the EU does not break up. The neo-con spokesman in Congress, John McCain, has already opened fire against Trump: “Don’t you dare make peace with Russia.”¹⁰ Mc Cain is particularly worried about all the effort, now seen as worthless, he put in backing “moderate rebels” in Syria. The Obama Administration also has belatedly stopped nurturing the moderate rebels in Syria lest the US be excluded from any peace talks.

[dropcap color=”#008040″ boxed=”yes” boxed_radius=”8px” class=”” id=””]T[/dropcap]rump’s man, Lt General Michael Flynn has co-authored a book, The Field of Fight: How We Can Win the Global War Against Radical Islam and Its Allies in which he claims that the global war runs from Pyongyang to Havana, Caracas. “Along the way, the alliance picks up radical Muslims countries and organisations such as Iran, al Qaeda, the Taliban, and the Islamic State.” Flynn’s solution, if unhampered, is novel. The US, Russia and the B®ICS should work together to solve world problems. The implied principle here is not America first, alone or the Washington Consensus, but multi-polarity.¹¹ Many around the world see Trump as a Peacenik, notes Victor Kotsev.¹²

The Republicans mainly, with a number of Democrats have a monopoly of foreign policy which they are unwilling to relinquish.

Despite Flynn’s moderate views, Trump has many opponents who can trump him. The Republicans mainly, with a number of Democrats have a monopoly of foreign policy which they are unwilling to relinquish. Notice how Obama had to rely on his predecessor’s clique of Robert Gates, Hillary Clinton, and David Petraeus. To succeed, Parry notes, ¹³ Trump has to introduce new techniques to “clear the swamp”: get rid of neo-con retreads like John Bolton, Rudy Giuliani, and supporters of the war on Iraq; Trump has to rely on openness to show that “we the people” are in charge; he should shut down propaganda agencies like State Department’s Office of Diplomacy and the National Endowment for Democracy; and, he should steer away from the Cold War.

Some writers¹⁴ narrow down the neocons to extremists, the Alt-Right movement which exploded just six months ago. The movement is associated with white identity, cultural Marxism, feminism, and bringing subjects into the public debate. The key ideas are rejection of equality of race in terms of ability and desirability of racial integration; rejection of multiculturalism; and, rejection of the dominance of neo-conservatism in American politics. Some just refer to this movement as “White Nationalism.”¹⁵

To be continued…

Bibliography

Daniel Davies, “US taking Raqqa could be another way – scene is set for WW III,” national interest.com, also russiainsider.com, 9.11.16.
Tyler Durden, “The Globalists are setting the stage for World War III,” zerohedge.com and russiainsider.com, November 15, 2016.
Johnathan Power, “Peace can be made with Russia,” arabnews.com, November 23, 2016.
Nick Giambruno, “Has World War III already started?” russiainsider.com, October 20, 2016; Julian Robinson, “How to survive war! Lithuanians are handed a 75-page manual … and why you need to pack condoms,” dailymail.co.uk, October 29, 2016.
“Poland celebrates independence Day on November 11,” warsawvoice.pl, November 11, 2016.
Riley Waggaman, “This is not a drill: NYT Editorial Board lays groundwork for war with Russia. Can’t wait,” russiainsider.com, September 30, 2016.
“USA media jackals: five corporations own 90% of the media,” pravdareport.com, November 17, 2016.
Christoph Germann, “Washington War Party urges Obama to go to war against Assad and the Russians,” russiainsider.com.en, October 27, 2016.
Artem Kureev, “A Trump presidency will have implications for NATO,” russiadirect.com, November 15, 2016.
Daniel McAdams, “McCain to Trump: Don’t you dare make peace with Russia!” ronpaulinstitute.com & russiainsider.com, November 16, 2016.
Ricky Twixdale, “General Michael Flynn says US and Russia must adopt strategic cooperation,” russiainsider.com, November 24, 2016.
Victor Kotsev, “Why do many around the world see Trump as a Peacenik?” russiainsider.com, November 23, 2016.
Robert Parry, “Trump has a shot at real greatness but only if he kicks out the neo-cons,” consortiumnews.com & russiainsider.com, November 16, 2016; John Wight,” Why Trump must slay the beast of neo-conservatism,” sputnik.com & russiainsider.com, November 15, 2016; Eric Zuesse, “Who will win the war between Trump and the neo-cons?” russiainsider.com, November 16, 2016.
Vincent DeLarge, “The Alt-Right: A comprehensive Overview,” russiainsider.com, October 1, 2016.
Amanda Taub, “White Nationalism: Explained,” nytimes.com, November 21, 2016.

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Henry D'Souza

Henry D'Souza is a prolific author who has written over 60 papers and 4 books, of which 2 books, 1 booklet and 28 papers were published. He is a distinguished sportsman, having represented Kenya in Field Hockey and also played tennis for the country.

Henry currently resides in Canada.