PARIS (AP) – For America’s allies and rivals alike, the chaos that ensued during Donald Trump’s last days as president is the logical result of four years of global instability brought about by the man who brought the world Promised to see.
From the outside, the United States has never looked so weak – or unexpected.
In the midst of the epidemic – from his decision to pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement and the Iran nuclear deal to leave the World Health Organization – a coalition formed for generations to come under Trump.
And then, by trying to avoid his loss to Joe Biden, Trump tried to base the principle of democratic elections to the United States – and sometimes even successful – to export worldwide. How long aftershocks can tolerate is unclear.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said, “This is one of the biggest tasks of the future for America and Europe. To fight the polarization of society at its root.” “We will only be able to maintain faith in democracy, in the most humane form of statehood, and logic in science and if we do it together.”
But in many ways Europe has already moved forward, moving forward on the agreement with Iran, negotiating a trade agreement with China by Germany, and organizing global actions to protect the environment.
The same day an angry mob attacked the Capitol to try to reverse the presidential election won by Biden, a record number of Americans died of coronovirus. Another recent incident also showed American vulnerability: the cyberspace operation is still working its way through an untold number of government computers and accuses elite Russian hackers.
World leaders who have witnessed deadly violence in Washington will need to consider whether these incidents are an external event – a ‘black swan’ – or whether these extremist white supremacist groups will continue to have a significant impact Instead of retreating with the end of the Trump administration, in the direction of US foreign and domestic policy, “the Soufan Group, a global intelligence and security firm, wrote on Tuesday.
Rachel Kleinfeld, a scholar of democracy and violence, said that people think of fragile countries as “the biggest problem in terms of war, of violence, of violence, and of state collapse.” At the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Kleinfeld, like many others, may attack the US Capitol in a few weeks, but was years in the making.
And the American ability to fight for democracy was already tarnished by the crowd, as Trump sought to end his electoral losses. For many, those incidents were merely confirmation.
Advisers, including Russia, China and Iran, used violence to question American democracy.
In an internal note on the State Department’s “Discontent Channel” Acquired by The Associated Press, US diplomats said Trump’s actions had made his job difficult. “It is important that we communicate to the world that in our system, no one – not even the president – is above the law or immune from public criticism,” the note said. “This will be the first step towards repairing the damage to our international credibility.”
Trump showed no opposition, however, his fiery rally remarks to supporters on Tuesday were “completely justified.”
In Iraq, a country still reeling from the controversial legacy of a US-led invasion in the name of democracy, many followed Washington’s events with a mixture of setbacks and fascination.
The then US President George W. Bush claimed that Iraq would become a model of democracy in an area ruled by dictators. Instead, the country fell into a prevailing war between the Sunnis and the Shia, killing tens of thousands of people. While it is an active parliament and regular elections, it is a disseminated democracy based on a communal power sharing agreement, with corrupt parties occupying ministries and positions, so that they can hire supporters while loosening their pockets.
The 39-year-old Iraqi political cartoonist Ahmed al-Helfi said that what happened in the US Capitol is a blow to democracy, which he tried to bring to Iraq and other countries.
“By mobilizing his followers in an effort to reverse the results of the election, Trump affirmed that instead of exporting democracy to Iraq, the US imported chaos, non-peaceful transition of power, and failure to accept election results , “Al-Hayle said.
German lawyer and trade expert Anahita Thomas, who spent years living and working in the United States, said the events of the past week would affect America’s image abroad. Thomas is a board member of the Atlantic Bridge, a think tank promoting cooperation between Europe and America – the kind of organization that was established after World War II, when the US rebuilt the economies of many countries in Western Europe Had helped destroy the war.
Germany was the country that benefited the most from American financial and democracy-building efforts.
Looking ahead, he said that American officials may have a hard time promoting democracy abroad.
“America remains a country that lives by its democratic values. But this aspiration, which is presented very strongly in the outside world, should not get too many cracks, ”Thomas said. “I think that much diplomatic skill is necessary to counter those pictures.”
The International Crisis Group, which usually focuses on global war zones, wrote its first assessment of the risk of election-related violence In the United States in October. Stephen Pomper, who helped lead the work on reports and life in the D.C. area, said that under the circumstances best, the United States may eventually point to a Congressional decision to resume the certification of Breed’s election After the first step in breech as successfully protecting their democracy.
“Look, we have created these organizations. He became a source of quietness for us. He helped us get through this difficult period. Let us help you develop the same kind of unpleasantness, ”he said, describing a fictional future conversation between the US and a struggling government. “It would be a positive story to be able to tell at some point, but I don’t think the pieces are enough yet.”
Pope Francis was more optimistic, he told the Italian broadcaster Mediaset: “Thank God that it” exploded in the open because “we are able to see why it is there, and how it can be saved.”
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Kirsten Greshber and Frank Jordan, authors of the Associated Press in Berlin, Abdulrahman Zaid in Baghdad, Matt Lee in Washington; And Frank Bjak contributed to Boston.
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