The US Is Turning The World Topsy-Turvy

A bewildered world is at a loss to find bilateral and multilateral measures to stop President Trump from pursuing his vision of a world unabashedly dominated by the United States, points out T P Sreenivasan.

President Trump's determined effort to reorder the world is the most important concern of humanity today and it should be closely followed as part of any study of the world.

In the last one year, Donald Trump's declarations and actions have caused grave concern to the entire world.

In the place of a democracy, committed to the rule of law and the United Nations, we now have a country under Trump building a power-based system, where alliances are viewed as subscription services and trade as a tool for strategic coercion.

Benign multilateralism has given way to transactional nationalism dictated by a policy of gaining control of resources by taking over countries and territories through threat or use of force.

Together with imposition of tariffs as a weapon, the US is turning the world topsy-turvy.

A bewildered world is at a loss to find bilateral and multilateral measures to stop President Trump from pursuing his vision of a world unabashedly dominated by the United States.

The Confrontation with Allies

At the beginning of his presidency, Trump announced his interest in establishing control of the Panama Canal, Greenland and even Canada, much to the consternation of the world.

In a swift military action, the US captured Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro and his wife and brought them to trial in a New York court on drug charges.

The vice president was given charge, but there are reports of differences between her and the Americans.

The US has promised to get the oil industry in Venezuela back on track and there is expectation among the people of Venezuela that they will be prosperous again.

There is hardly any resistance to the US domination of Venezuela and Trump's first invasion of an oil rich country appears to have succeeded.

Trump's next step was to reclaim Greenland on the ground that Greenland was handed over to Denmark after the war and that Greenland is absolutely essential for the security of the US.

Trump faced unanimous rejection of the proposal during the Davos summit 2026 and was forced to withdraw his plans to impose additional tariff on eight European countries, who opposed annexation of Greenland by the US.

Trump has already withdrawn from several multilateral arrangements designed to support the Global Commons to assert its sovereignty.

The establishment of a Board of Peace under his own permanent chairmanship to administer Gaza with his nominees, willing to pay a huge membership fee is a move to find an alternative to the United Nations with far reaching consequences.

Many invitees to the board have not responded, but some others have joined in the hope of appeasing Trump.

But the strategic unpredictability has turned the global economy into a market place with high control but low stability.

The national security and defence strategy unveiled by Trump are based on strength for peace, rather than cooperation.

Trump has also begun to make deals with individual countries, bypassing Brussels.

Mark Carney's Appeal For Coalition

At Davos, Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada took the bull by the horns and declared the present situation as a rupture, not a transformation.

He declared that the period of economic integration with mutual support is over.

Carney called for a Middle Power Coalition including the EU, Japan and Australia, large enough to resist pressure from either Washington or Beijing.

He said that the new coalition should have a place at the table to avoid being on the menu.

Carney rebuffed the 'Donroe' doctrine and the invitation to join the board of peace, considering it a real estate driven venture rather than a diplomatic one.

He called for strategic autonomy not only politically, but also in securing resources.

The Canadian challenge is the only forthright rejection of Trump's world view which may have an impact.

But Trump's latest threat to invade Iran indicates that he will continue to pursue his dreams of a strength-based world order.

These are opening remarks Ambassador T P Sreenivasan made at a session on Glimpses Of A Trumpian World Order at the Mathrubhumi Literary Festival.
A long-time contributor to Rediff, you can read his earlier columns here.

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff