Haider al lawati -
haiderdawood@hotmail.com -
Nobody would argue that the issues raised by the new American president have angered many Americans and the world’s governments and nations, including Europe, a close ally of the US.
Today, there is a massive campaign on the series of decisions taken by this person who created much clamour on political, military and economic issues concerning the US and the world.
Some even speculate these new decisions and policies might lead to commercial, and maybe even military, wars between the US and the rest of the world, albeit through proxy.
Because of the myriad of decisions taken by President Trump, many believe he is anti-globalisation and will end the free global exchange system despite the US being one of the first countries to lay the foundation for this system in agreement with European countries.
Experts believe the global system established by the US after the World War II was a direct cause of commercial boom and turning attention towards free market that relies on freeing global trade as well as increasing capital movement across the world.
Some reports suggest that the influence of the American president constitutes a bubble of speculation, which might eventually explode once investors realise his inability to keep his promises. This takes us to his “protectionism policy”, which he talked about during his election campaign and later emphasised that “we should protect our borders from the horrors inflicted on by other countries that manufacture our products, steal our companies and destroy our jobs”.
Directing his speech to the American people, he said: “Buy American goods and hire American workers.”
Perhaps, this step — protectionism — will be an “economically costly policy” for a nation that puts it in practice on a large scale. In this regard, a lengthy report published by Saxo Bank poses a broad question: Does the US economy really need Trump? And how badly does the US economy need the presence of someone like Trump? The report also notes that the economic performance during Obama’s presidency terms showed various positive features achieved in the past eight years.
According to the report, economic indicators are very solid, as former president Obama left the US economy in a “somewhat healthy position” and more robust than it was before 2008, especially with regard to the financial sector.
As for the labour market, for the first time the number of unemployed Americans between the ages of 25 and 34 dropped below 22 per cent at the end of 2016.
The fact that Trump adopts populist policies of “America First” and anti-globalisation means taking protective measures, obstructing trade and imposing restrictions on labour and capital movement. These issues have cast a shadow of doubt on the US security assurances list when Trump stated that US allies must pay more for their protection toward their own defence.
If this is enforced, experts believe this policy will change America’s strategic and geopolitical management towards isolationism and unilateralism as well as the pursuit of US national interests at the expense of other countries and joint issues.
Meanwhile, it seems the European Union and the Euro Zone are facing disintegration in the wake of Brexit vote in June last year and the rise of populist parties and the extreme anti-Europe left and right wings, which gives an excuse for Russia to reinstate its influence in Europe and the Middle East.
The concept of “America First” is also likely to aggravate proxy wars between the different communities in the Middle East, and more countries acquiring nuclear weapons to defend themselves.
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