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'Putin-isation Bug' bites Trump! World braces for 'Trumpnados'!

TIOL - COB( WEB) - 956
JANUARY 23, 2025

By Shailendra Kumar, Founder Editor

THE maverick Donald Trump, three days back, stepped into the Oval Office as the 47th President of the United States of America. And he did it, in a first, with the stigma of felony, which will stick to his credentials in the history book to be read by the 'Gen Beta'. In fact, he looked restless to claim many firsts to his credit! That is how he signed a bevy of Executive Orders, unravelling orders of his predecessor and implementing his poll pledges. Painting a gloomy picture of the economy inherited from Joe Biden, he launched his 'Trumpnado' against illegal immigrants and also his neighbouring economies. He unfathomably appears to be desperate to be known as the first President who reversed the 'Washington Consensus' - the key pillar for the phenomenon of globalisation. Whatever all the Presidents during the post-WW-II era did for global peace and global trade, to ameliorate the living conditions of large populations in poor countries, he blithely wants to undo all that! He does not care for global treaties like Paris Climate Accord and international organisations built in the past decades. He cares little for the global economy. He sees all immigrants as parasites. Blatant nativism and animus are the two pillars on which the doctrine of Trumpism would flourish! In a nutshell, he has all the passions to reshape the present world with a scalpel into a mare's nest!

His assumption of power has triggered a geopolitical wave of horripilation across the world. In fact, even before his formal swearing-in, press conferences from his Florida-based residence - Mar-a-Lago, have produced jolting goose pimples running up the spine of not only competing countries but also the allies of America! In the run-up to the throne of power, he had thickened the smokescreen of geo-economic and geopolitical uncertainty niggling large as well as small countries in equal measure. If we reckon the crux of his last such media powwow, what may unmistakably come out is his itch for hemispheric expansionism, which is another variant of the 19th century Imperialism which had mercantilism in its core. Like the emperor of the bygone era - invariably a snollygoster, he demonstrates not even faint veneration for the territorial sovereignty of the nations, located afar and also in the vicinity. Heaping scorn on globalists, his cuddly world is ONLY America, and the rest of the planet exists merely to subserve his whims and outlandish ideas! A sort of geopolitical romanticism imbued with Quixotic idealism!

Holy Trump! While expressing his territorial appetite, he dubbed America's northern border as an 'artificially drawn line' - a line in the sand, and wishes to make Canada, the 51st State! His vision is to carve out a continental superpower. There was hardly any taker for such a crude joke in Canada. In fact, leading politicians retorted by saying that Canada is not for sale. Even far-right brethren masked their face by saying that he ought to be 'kidding'! Prime Minister Justin Trudeau commented that the cornerstone of Canadian identity is that they are not Americans. He added that Trump's statement was a trojan horse to derail the conversation about the damage his tariff policy against the Canadian exports is going to do to American consumers. In the same breath, Trump also called for renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the 'Gulf of America' - another salvo from his branded repertoire of populism! Quick flew a statement from the Mexican President Claudia to his hectoring. She talked about a 17th century map, showing a large swathe of the North American territory labelled as 'America Mixicana'. Cartographers had named the Gulf of Mexico much before the United States fought for its independence.

Trump sparked global outrage when he spoke about the acquisition of Greenland and Panama Canal and did not explicitly rule out the use of economic and military muscles to this end. Greenland is an autonomous Danish territory. The Danish Prime Minister has repeatedly said that Greenland's future is to be decided by its people. Greenland lawmakers have alleged that there is a long history of utter abuse of Arctic indigenous people by America and their land is not for sale. Trump's lust for others' territory put many European leaders on the edge. The German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that "The principle of the inviolability of borders applies to every country no matter whether that is in the east or the west". He hinted at land-grabbing by Moscow in Ukraine. Like Denmark, the Panamanian President also responded that "every square meter of the Panama Canal belongs to Panama and will remain so". Many American experts have debunked Trump's allegation that Chinese forces were controlling the canal and the American trade is being overcharged. Such political concoctions are likely to ignite anti-American feeling among the common Panamanians. In 1978, President Jimmy Carter had said that ceding control of the canal to the Panama government would open up trade opportunities and lower the mercury of anti-American feeling in Latin America. Owing to his such gesture, the US defence forces pay much less tariff than others and also get priority in swimming across the canal. However, Trump sees major faux pas in Carter's decision and he once again reiterated his intent to take over the canal and unshackle it from the grip of Chinese forces!

The larger question is - Why is Trump keen on annexing Greenland? Although it is Denmark's autonomous territory with 56000 people but it largely survives on subsidy from the mainland country. Denmark gives its government an annual handout of USD 500 mn. The size of its economy is barely above USD three billion. It is known for its ultra-tight labour market with 0.2% joblessness. Over four-fifths of its geography is under monstrous sheets of ice. In its capital Nuuk, the sun rises at 10 AM and sets at 4 PM. It is like an extreme Alaska. So, what is pulling Trump to it? There is a slew of probable reasons. First, Trump is a compulsive transactional leader. Controversies tend to fuel his passions for the un-gettable! Since he is aware that in 1867, the then Secretary of State William Seward had bought Alaska from Russia for USD 7.2 million which was dubbed as a serious folly but later orchestrated as a masterstroke, he wants to perform a similar high-wire act! Ergo, he thinks that he has cromulent reasons to walk around with a shopping cart!

Second, Greenland is home, endowed with 50 'critical minerals' - 30 of them are most coveted raw materials in the world. Given that China has embargoed exports of such minerals to the US, the American industry, including the defence, soon needs to look for an alternative supply chain. Two of America's billionaires - Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, have already invested over USD 150 mn in exploring copper, cobalt and other minerals. American firms have been drilling over 170 mine sites as compared to a dozen a decade back. The US Geological Survey has estimated that it has the largest deposit of critical minerals outside China. It also has 3% of the world's proven oil reserves. The prospects of extracting such minerals would brighten up in the coming years as Arctic ice is melting fast. This has two important strategic ramifications for America as Greenland sits between Russia and the US. In the coming years, there can be a potential navigable trade route for trade, saving thousands of kilometres of distance. More importantly, it would have pivotal security benefits for America. Given these benefits for the US, there would be huge benefits for the Greenlanders as their per capita income would jump manifolds. Nonetheless, the approach of Trump is not right as the free will of Greenlanders ought to be respected if they do not want to be a part of the US. Given the outrageous track record of abuse of indigenous population of Inuit in Alaska, Greenlanders (85% are Inuit) are today a worried lot.

What is of greater global concern is - There would be two deadly autocrats to deal with! Secondly, the economies of both of them would be unavoidable as the global supply chain either originates or terminates there. If Trump's foreign policy is going to hinge more on flexing of economic and military muscles, I do not see any difference between China and America. China also practises the art of bulldozing once it sets its rapacious eyeball on any physical territory. Beijing never demonstrated coyness about gulping down Hong Kong - an independent democratic territory. Though South China Sea is an international maritime route but a large sliver of it is beyond the reach for most countries in Asia. China shamelessly made a serious bid to alter its borders with India. China's patience to grab Taiwan is running thin! If Trump also does the same with Canada or Mexico or Panama or even distant country like Greenland, the world is going to sink its teeth into too many sticky mounds of whims and fancies of weirdo imperialists armed with 'Trumpnados'. It appears to me that the wheel of imperialism has turned full circle and the world needs to brace up for the consequences of belligerent neo-imperialism a la the rising tide of far-right movement. If that happens, all the tangible achievements of the past seven decades would be erased along with the multilateral institutions! Are we really heading for Putinisation of our planet? Will there be any counterforce to deal with such geopolitical machismo? Mammamia! Perhaps, None! Rockier time lies ahead!


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