Something unusual happened at the World Economic Forum (WEF) this year which is reverberating through the corridors of power in Europe and elsewhere. The banker-turned politician Mark Carney, currently the prime minister of Canada, had the audacity to say that the emperor was naked. Everyone who matters in global politics and economy knew this, as in the eponymous fairy tale, but no one dared to say the naked truth, no pun intended. There were considerations of diplomatic niceties, apprehension of retaliation by fresh waves of tariff, risk of fracturing the alliance built over decades and above all, patience to wait for change in the behaviour and utterances of the 'emperor'. But defying all expectations, the emperor became nastier and more rambunctious, releasing salvos of warnings for compliance with his wildly swinging and bizarre whims. Insults continued to be hurled at countries and their leaders in public, humiliating them in sadistic pleasure. Then when the unhinged 'king' said his country needed Denmark-owned Greenland for its security and would have it 'one way or another' the dam that contained resentment burst. One after another, nine European countries, including United Kingdom (UK), Germany and France, stood by Denmark and sent token armed forces to Greenland to confront American forces that may try to invade and occupy. America has never experienced anything like this before - its military might being challenged by European countries. President Trump, the conceited and vainglorious king in this narrative, responded not with diplomacy but with 'muscle power' as he is wont to. Having already weaponised trade, almost by gut reaction he slapped 25 per cent additional tariff on Canada and European countries that dared to prevent him from gobbling up Greenland. Many European leaders lost no time in condemning this retaliatory tariff as unfair. For the first time, the allies used the diatribe 'condemned' in reference to the leader of the western alliance, America. The era of appeasing America, no matter what it did to allies, is now dead and buried.
If this was a watershed event in international affairs, Trump's America received an even blunter rebuttal to its imperious manners and peremptory declarations in the annual gathering of the great and the good in the World Economic Forum in Davos. After president Trump denigrated Europe as 'weak' and in decline, propped up by American support, the reply came from America's next door neighbour Canada. Marc Carney spoke within hearing distance of president Trump and told the gathering heavyweights that the old global order based on rules and collegiality has been ruptured and it is no use pretending that it is in transition. He did not mention how and who caused the 'rupture' but everyone understood whom he had in mind. Equally trenchant was Carny's call for a new world order that would consist of middle powers, bypassing big powers, particularly America. If carried out in practice, this would not only end the present global order but also signal the culmination of American dominance.
In the short run and of immediate consequence are three areas in the cross-hair of president Trump's grand design for aggrandisement and dominance for furthering his personal and America's national interests. In all the three cases, America's unilateral decisions and policy objectives have created situations that involve violation of international laws and human rights.
The first is Ukraine, suffering a war for the last three years, not least because of America's policy of encircling Russia by NATO. In a reversal of the continuing policy of supporting Ukraine to wage the war to recover land lost, president Trump wants to end the war in a peace agreement that will require Ukraine to cede the territory occupied by Russia. Patently, this is not fair to Ukraine notwithstanding the folly it might have committed in its relation to Russia. President Trump, without consulting European allies, is unilaterally pursuing a one-sided peace agreement, steamrolling Ukraine to agree to his terms. The European countries have to assert themselves because what happens to Ukraine affects their security. So long, they were wary of ruffling Trumps feathers and tiptoed along, trying to gently nudge Trump to their way of thinking. Now with the ' rupture' that has been acknowledged to have happened, the European countries should insist on a peace deal that is fair to both Russia and Ukraine. One way of achieving this is to require Russia to take lease of Crimea from Ukraine for a long term with the provision of renewing the same. As for the Donbas areas under Russian occupation, these can be allowed to be demilitarised and become autonomous regions run by Russian-speaking people belonging to the state of Ukraine.
The second geo-political crisis is also Trump's own making. Not being satisfied with bombing of Iran's nuclear facilities, Trump is now gearing up to strike Iran again. This time the goal is regime change, something cherished by Israel for a long time. Trump thought the civil unrest and street demonstrations orchestrated by his administration and Israeli Mossad would bring down the Iranian regime. Seeing the possibility evaporating into thin air, he has now mobilised the Sixth Fleet from China sea to the middle-east, bringing them within striking distance of Iranian targets. In taking this very risky venture that has the potential of escalating dangerously, he has not consulted any of American allies. In view of this unilateral decision-making, the European countries should stop sharing intelligence with America in respect of middle-east and make their seaports and airports out of bounds for American air and naval forces. In the face of an act of aggrandisement by America in the middle-east, the least that European countries can do is to remain strictly neutral.
It is no secret that Donald Trump's peace plan for Gaza is a hoax and is a camouflage for land grabbing to further his family interests and those of America, with Israel and some Gulf countries as collateral beneficiaries. This became crystal clear when, soon after his resumption of office last year, president Trump declared before the press that he was going to take over Gaza and build a Mediterranean Riviera there. That this was not a casual remark or an exercise in levity was borne out by the unveiling of Great Gaza Development Plan by his son in law assisted by the sleazy former British prime minister Tony Blair. In spite of knowing very well that president Trump was least interested in helping the Palestinians and was looking at Gaza as a real estate mogul, the leaders of European countries made a bee line to Sharm Al Sheik last year to witness the signing of the Gaza Peace Plan and the constitution of a Board of Peace headed by Trump himself. Their presence on the occasion lent legal and moral support to the greatest planned heist in history where the president of a superpower country has hatched a plan to seize land from their legitimate owners to build his personal assets and a military base to make it appear legit to his constituency. Now that Europe has broken its silence over Trump's trampling of international laws and imperious postures and held him to account, it behove them to call out against the vile crime against the Palestinians that the Gaza Plan represents. Only they can stop the bully and solipsistic sick man in the White House from inflicting permanent physical and mental sufferings to the helpless Palestinians.
Europe, the citadel of modern civilisation, the world is looking at you as saviour. You cannot fail at this critical juncture of history.
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