Barbara Crossette
Senior Consulting Editor and Writer for PassBlue and The NationThe UN audience could only gasp when Donald Trump made his stormy debut in the United Nations General Assembly in 2017 as president of the United States. This year they laughed in his face.
The gap between the US and the rest of the world has demonstrably widened under the Trump administration, and this phenomenon has consequences. Trump’s rhetoric may have been toned down by his advisers, but his belligerence has deepened and broadened. In the week after his dismissive remarks and display of raw ego — provoking laughter in the General Assembly — talk among government leaders and commentators worldwide has turned to the reality that the US has opted out of constructive leadership.
Now, the question is what the rest of the world will do about it.
Alternating between bragging about his self-proclaimed achievements and lambasting the role of the institution in which he was speaking, Trump went after his usual targets — the Iran nuclear deal, the UN Human Rights Council, the International Criminal Court, even OPEC, among others. He lavished praise on North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, last year’s villain. (He said later that he and Kim “fell in love” in an exchange of letters.)
Donate
Then, for good measure, Trump added a dose of boorish bad manners. He arrived late for every important scheduled appearance — so late for his speech in the General Assembly on Sept. 25 that the staff had to fill his spot with Lenín Moreno Garcés, the president of Ecuador. Moreno spoke from a wheelchair, and this abrupt change of precedence required that the podium
In the Security Council, Trump appeared more than 20 minutes late for a Sept. 26 meeting he was scheduled to chair. Noticeably, some diplomats turned their backs to him as he and his entourage strolled into the chamber. He was also late for a lunch on Sept. 25, for government leaders hosted by Secretary-General António Guterres, where Trump and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada avoided each other for most of the lunch, although their tables were side by side.
By then, Trump had made it abundantly clear where he stood on the vision and values of the UN. In addressing the nations of the world, he declared that America chose to stand alone.
“America is governed by Americans,” he said. “We reject the ideology of globalism, and we embrace the doctrine of patriotism.” On the International Criminal Court — a target of John Bolton, the US national security adviser, since its creation in 1998 by an international statute that the US signed but never ratified — Trump called the independent court “an unelected, unaccountable, global bureaucracy.”
This farewell to globalism, whose practical value to humanity’s future was eloquently defended by Guterres in his opening General Assembly speech last week, disregarded generations of growing American involvement with the rest of the world — more young people studying and living abroad, more US government exchange programs in many fields and that symbolic photograph of John Kerry at the UN in 2016, signing on to the Paris climate agreement with his eye on the future and a granddaughter of his crooked in his arm.
Jeffrey Laurenti, who has been analyzing US-UN relations for many years for the United Nation Association of the USA (UNA-USA) and the Century Foundation, is watching a new era in the making. After listening to world leaders speaking at the UN and in off-the-record sessions at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York the past week, he wrote a memo about the US in the new world under Trump for PassBlue:
“There was, I thought, a palpable change in atmosphere from last year to this. Last year there was an air of apprehension about the new US president, a sense of both threat and possibility. Nations’ leaders were hoping still to find the sweet spot behind the bluster where they could reach understandings with the new regime.
“A year later, the illusions are gone, thanks to Washington’s steady stream of disruptive actions and withdrawals, from Iran and Jerusalem to trade wars and refugees, with various U.N. agencies and funds left as collateral roadkill,” he wrote. [On Oct. 1, the Pew Research Center published the results of an international poll taken in August that showed Trump’s ratings across 25 countries remains poor, dragging down the US image to levels that are “much lower than during Barack Obama’s presidency.”]
“For America’s traditional democratic allies, the president’s replacing the unloved realist H.R. McMaster with the detested ideologue John Bolton signaled there will be no reasoning and no shared values,” Laurenti continued. “Trump’s America has gone rogue from the law-based ‘international community’ the democracies have invested so many years and so much political effort in creating. When moderate leaders of five Latin American countries joined Canada’s Justin Trudeau in referring Venezuelan crimes against humanity to the International Criminal Court, they were sending a message to Trump as much as to Nicolas Maduro, maybe even more so.
Donate
Donate
“At one level, presidential bombast is greeted with derision — and perhaps the U.N. needs more laughter. But at the same
“At this General Assembly the outlines of a new policy of containment became visible — this time not containment of Stalin’s USSR, but of Trump’s USA,” Laurenti concluded.
Many speakers in this year’s General Assembly opening debate have been critical, directly or obliquely, of this extraordinary US policy of disengagement. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, spoke of a world in a deep crisis that was not an “interlude” in contemporary history that can safely be ignored. He sees the emergence and spread of a “survival of the fittest”
“What I am saying is that this path of unilateralism leads us directly to withdrawal and conflict, to
Hassan Rouhani, the president of Iran, who is on the receiving end of very harsh charges by Trump, said at a news conference in Tehran after returning from the UN: “What’s important is that today, other than one or two countries, no one is supporting America. It is a historic political isolation that is rare for America.” In his General Assembly speech, Rouhani remarked that Trump’s decision to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal stemmed from “a weakness of intellect.”
Trump in his UN speech had blasted Iran as the biggest supporter of terrorism in the world, whose leaders “sow chaos, death, and destruction.”
All five other parties to the Iran agreement designed to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons — Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the European Union — have vowed to stay the course, despite threats from Trump and his secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, against those who do not follow American-imposed sanctions against the Iranians.
The threats were meant to sound alarming, just as the Europeans, Asians, Africans and Latin Americans are now beginning to exert independence and maintain distance from the US — if that is even possible.
For those in the US who have said Trump’s international tirades should be considered mainly intended for the consumption of American voters, that is no excuse — or not a good-enough reason — for ignoring how the just-ended, mean-spirited performance by Trump and his hard-liners at the UN is playing out around the world, where the US may no longer be trusted and allies may soon be harder to find.
Original Publisher
PassBlueBarbara Crossette is the senior consulting editor and writer for PassBlue and the United Nations correspondent for The Nation. She is also a board member of the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She is a
I simply couldn’t depart your site before suggesting that I really enjoyed the standard info
an individual supply to your visitors? Is going to be back steadily to check
out new posts
What’s up, I check your new stuff on a regular basis.
Your writing style is awesome, keep up the good work!
Hello, I think your website might be having browser compatibility issues.
When I look at your blog in Chrome, it looks fine but when opening in Internet Explorer, it has some overlapping.
I just wanted to give you a quick heads up! Other then that,
excellent blog!
hey there and thank you for your info – I’ve certainly picked up something new from right here.
I did however expertise a few technical points using this
website, as I experienced to reload the website many times previous to I could get it to
load properly. I had been wondering if your hosting is OK?
Not that I’m complaining, but sluggish loading instances
times will sometimes affect your placement in google
and could damage your high quality score if advertising and marketing with Adwords.
Well I’m adding this RSS to my email and could
look out for a lot more of your respective fascinating content.
Ensure that you update this again soon.
We stumbled over here coming from a different page and thought I may as well check things out.
I like what I see so i am just following you. Look forward to checking out
your web page for a second time.
Good day! Do you know if they make any plugins to protect against hackers?
I’m kinda paranoid about losing everything I’ve worked hard on. Any tips?
Amazing blog! Is your theme custom made or did you
download it from somewhere? A theme like yours with a few simple adjustements would really
make my blog jump out. Please let me know where you
got your theme. With thanks
If you want to take a good deal from this piece of writing then you have to apply these methods to your won website.
Hey there! This is kind of off topic but I need some
guidance from an established blog. Is it very difficult
to set up your own blog? I’m not very techincal but I can figure things out pretty fast.
I’m thinking about setting up my own but I’m not sure where
to start. Do you have any ideas or suggestions?
With thanks
Hello everyone, it’s my first go to see at this web
site, and article is in fact fruitful in favor of me, keep up posting
such articles or reviews.
Pretty! This has been an incredibly wonderful
post. Thank you for providing these details.
I was suggested this website by way of my cousin. I am now not sure whether or not this put
up is written via him as no one else know such targeted
approximately my trouble. You are wonderful!
Thanks!
I used to be suggested this web site via my cousin. I’m now not
certain whether this submit is written via him as no one else realize such
unique about my problem. You’re amazing! Thank you!
Way cool! Some extremely valid points! I appreciate you writing this
article and also the rest of the website is very good.
Hi, I do think this is an excellent web site. I stumbledupon it 😉 I’m going
to come back yet again since i have book marked it. Money and freedom is the greatest way to change, may you be
rich and continue to guide others.
It’s difficult to find educated people about this topic,
however, you sound like you know what you’re talking about!
Thanks
I just like the valuable information you
provide for your articles. I’ll bookmark your weblog and
check once more here frequently. I am rather certain I will learn lots of new stuff
right here! Best of luck for the following!
I do not even know how I finished up right here, but I believed
this put up was once good. I do not realize who you’re however definitely you’re going to a
well-known blogger should you aren’t already.
Cheers!
I know this if off topic but I’m looking into starting my own blog and was wondering what all is needed to get setup?
I’m assuming having a blog like yours would cost a pretty penny?
I’m not very internet savvy so I’m not 100% certain.
Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks
Hi! I just wanted to ask if you ever have any issues
with hackers? My last blog (wordpress) was hacked and I
ended up losing a few months of hard work due to no backup.
Do you have any methods to protect against hackers?
We’re a group of volunteers and starting a new scheme in our community.
Your website offered us with valuable information to work on. You
have done a formidable job and our entire community will be grateful
to you.
Appreciate the recommendation. Will try it out.
Thanks for finally talking about >Nations Contend With an Era of Chaos as Trump Offends the World at the
UN | Democratic World Federalists <Liked it!
Great post. I was checking constantly this blog and I’m impressed!
Extremely useful information specially the last part 🙂 I care
for such information much. I was looking for this particular information for a very
long time. Thank you and good luck.
This is a topic that’s near to my heart… Take care! Where are your contact details though?
Heya! I just wanted to ask if you ever have any trouble with hackers?
My last blog (wordpress) was hacked and I ended up losing many months of hard work due to no backup.
Do you have any solutions to stop hackers?
Hi, Neat post. There’s an issue together with your web site in web explorer, would test
this? IE nonetheless is the market leader and a large
section of other people will omit your magnificent writing due to this problem.
Hi to every body, it’s my first visit of this web site; this webpage contains awesome and
truly excellent stuff designed for visitors.
Yesterday, while I was at work, my cousin stole my iphone and tested
to see if it can survive a 40 foot drop, just so
she can be a youtube sensation. My apple ipad is now destroyed and she has 83 views.
I know this is entirely off topic but I had
to share it with someone!
Have you ever thought about adding a little bit
more than just your articles? I mean, what you say is fundamental and all.
However imagine if you added some great visuals or videos to give your posts
more, “pop”! Your content is excellent but with pics and clips,
this blog could undeniably be one of the best in its niche.
Superb blog!
I’m really enjoying the design and layout of your blog.
It’s a very easy on the eyes which makes it much more
pleasant for me to come here and visit more
often. Did you hire out a developer to create your theme?
Great work!
I love your blog.. very nice colors & theme. Did you create this website yourself or did you hire someone to do it for you?
Plz answer back as I’m looking to construct my
own blog and would like to know where u got this from.
appreciate it
Greetings I am so grateful I found your website,
I really found you by error, while I was searching on Askjeeve for something
else, Anyhow I am here now and would just like to say cheers for a tremendous post and a all round exciting blog (I also love the
theme/design), I don’t have time to look over it all at the moment but I have book-marked it and
also added in your RSS feeds, so when I have time I will be back to read more,
Please do keep up the fantastic work.
This is really interesting, You are a very skilled blogger.
I have joined your rss feed and look forward to seeking more of
your wonderful post. Also, I have shared your website in my social networks!
Hello, I enjoy reading through your article post.
I like to write a little comment to support you.
Everyone loves it when people come together and share thoughts.
Great website, keep it up!
Great blog here! Additionally your website rather a lot up fast!
What host are you the usage of? Can I get your affiliate link on your host?
I wish my website loaded up as quickly as yours lol
I have read so many content regarding the blogger lovers however this piece of
writing is genuinely a fastidious paragraph,
keep it up.