Leaderless

Last week, Donald Trump, to the consternation of America’s European allies, refused to recertify the multilateral agreement policing Iran’s nuclear development to make sure the country does not produce nuclear weapons.

This agreement is the outcome of 13 long years of hard diplomatic bargaining. It is considered a triumph by all sides. Iran won relief from crippling economic sanctions. The West, for its part, is reassured Iran’s nuclear program will be closely observed to prevent development of weapons-grade material.

Only Israel and Trump’s political base is unhappy with that deal. From the campaign period, Trump has promised his base he would break the deal. He cannot do that unilaterally, of course. The deal with Iran is a multilateral agreement supervised by the UN Security Council.

Britain, France and Germany strongly endorse the deal. The leaders of these nations reiterated that after Trump refused recertification.

In refusing to recertify the deal, Trump claimed Iran repeatedly violated it. He produced no evidence to support that claim.

In contrast, the nuclear watchdogs keeping a close eye on Iran’s nuclear facilities were happy about that country’s compliance. The other western powers are happy as well.

In doing what he just did, Trump pushes the US deeper into isolationism. Early in his term, he withdrew the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) to the dismay of the other member countries that looked to this trade deal with much expectation.

Apart from threatening to build a wall along the US-Mexico border, Trump is also threatening to dismantle the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). That will surely disrupt the economies of the three countries, probably bringing all of them to recession.

Dismantling NAFTA will hurt Mexico most of all. Over the past few years, American industries have moved south to improve their costs and be more competitive. This is precisely what agitates Trump. He does not realize the strategic gains the US stands to make from this agreement.

After abandoning the TPP, Trump withdrew the US from the Paris Accord on fighting global warming to universal dismay. The American president is hostile to environmental regulation, seeing it as a constraint to US economic growth. He caters to a constituency dependent on smokestack industries, coal mining and inefficient manufacturing. Blinded by narrow interests, they refuse to concede that human activity causes global warming.

Since Trump took the US out of the Paris Accord, the American mainland has been hit by unusually strong hurricanes and, over the past few days, unprecedented wildfires sweeping large areas of California. The American leader, of course, refuses to link these calamities to climate change.

With the Trump administration taking unilateral steps toward isolationism, the rest of the world is frightened by what consequences this could produce. For many decades, America led the world in pushing for free trade that nourished the emerging economies, efforts to protect the environment, and strong engagement to maintain order and stability in the world.

Suddenly, the world feels leaderless. Under Trump, the US ceases to be a reliable partner for anything. It surely will not lead the world in reversing climate change. It frowns on the use of greener technologies that, for Trump’s political base, spells nothing but job loss.

Under Trump, the US ceased to be a sanctuary for displaced populations and a strong voice in defense of democratic values. With increasing protectionism, the US is not being helpful in promoting trade as an instrument of economic expansion that will help liberate the poor globally.

Increasingly, people have looked to Germany’s Merkel, France’s Macron and even Canada’s Trudeau to lead the world and advance the values that compose modern civility: equal rights regardless of gender or race; open markets for mutually beneficial trade; the improvement of democratic standards everywhere.

None of them, regardless of their personal qualities, can replace US leadership. Their countries do not even approximate the economic and military clout the US wields. Therefore, none of them can speak with the authoritativeness of a US leader attuned to the progression of civilization’s values.

To be blunt, the US seems to be marching backwards while the rest of the world advances. More than just isolationism, the US seems to be abandoning its traditional role as exemplar of enlightened values.

There is another thing about Trump’s parochialism that is disconcerting. This is highlighted by that recent incident where Trump tweeted about the futility of finding negotiating ground with North Korea even as his own Secretary of State was in Beijing trying precisely to find a diplomatic route to defuse rising tensions in the Korean peninsula.

One could imagine the exasperation Secretary of State Rex Tillerson must have felt about that incident. His own president undermines his work. It was reported that the Secretary, not quite under his breath, described his own president a “moron.”

If Trump, using Tweeter, so mindlessly undermines his foreign policy staff, could American diplomacy continue to be credible? With Trump’s propensity to change his mind without warning, is America’s word still to be trusted?

Without consistent, coherent and reliable foreign policy emanating from Washington, what will the world rely on for reference? It seems Trump pulled up the anchor on US diplomacy, allowing things to be aimlessly adrift.

As is the case with Rodrigo Duterte, Trump has yet to come to grips with the immense responsibility of the office he holds. He must be careful about making rash decisions and saying things to be regretted later.

Both must respect the majesty of the office they hold.