PARIS (AP) – For both US allies and rivals, the chaos that unfolded during Donald Trump’s last days as president is the logical result of four years of man-made global instability that he promised to change the way we see the world in the United States.
From the outside, the United States has never seemed so vulnerable – the unpredictable.
The alliances that had been maintained for generations worn down to a breaking point under Trump, from his decision to withdraw from the Paris climate deal and Iran’s nuclear deal, to leaving the ‘World Health Organization in the midst of a pandemic.
And then, in an attempt to nullify his loss to Joe Biden, Trump revalued the fundamental principle of democratic elections that the United States has tried — and even succeeded — in exporting around the world. It is unclear how long they could withstand these aftershocks.
“It is one of the biggest tasks of the future for the United States and Europe: to fight the polarization of society at its roots,” said German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas. “We will only be able to preserve the belief in union, in democracy as the most humane form of humanity, and in conviction in science and reason if we do it together.”
But in many ways, Europe has already made progress, moving forward in the agreement with Iran, negotiating a trade agreement with China led by Germany and organizing global actions to protect the environment.
On the same day, an angry mob stormed the Capitol to try to overturn the presidential election won by Biden, a record number of Americans killed by coronavirus. Another recent event also showed the vulnerability of the United States: the cyberespionage operation continues to operate through an incalculable number of government computers and blamed elite Russian hackers.
World leaders who saw the deadly violence in Washington “will have to consider whether these events are an abnormal fact (a” black swan “) or whether these extremist white supremacist groups will continue to have a significant influence. on the direction of U.S. foreign and domestic policy, rather than backtracking on the end of the Trump administration, “the Soufan Group, a global intelligence and security company, wrote on Tuesday.
People tend to think of fragile countries “in terms of war as the bigger problem than violence, and think of in terms of state collapse as the bigger problem than internally disintegrating states,” Rachel Kleinfeld said. , a scholar on democracy and violence. at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Kleinfeld, like many others, said the assault on the U.S. Capitol could have come to a head in a matter of weeks, but that it had been going on for years.
And the ability of the United States to fight for democracy was already tarnished before the Trump-driven crowd tried to undo its electoral loss. For many, these events were nothing more than a confirmation.
Opponents such as Russia, China and Iran used violence to question U.S. democracy more generally.
In an internal note on the State Department’s “dissent channel.” obtained by The Associated Press, U.S. diplomats said Trump’s actions had made it difficult for them to work. “It is critical that we communicate to the world that, in our system, no one (not even the president) is above the law nor is he immune to public criticism,” the note said. “This would be a first step toward repairing the damage to our international credibility.”
However, Trump showed no contrition and said Tuesday that his statements of fire to protesters were “totally adequate.”
In Iraq, a country still struggling with the controversial legacy of a U.S.-led invasion in the name of democracy, many people followed the events in Washington with a mixture of shock and fascination.
The then President of the United States, George W. Bush, boasted that Iraq would become a model of democracy in a region ruled by dictators. Instead, the country fell into a protracted war between Sunnis and Shiites in which tens of thousands of people died. Although it has an active parliament and regular elections, it is a dysfunctional democracy based on a sectarian power-sharing agreement, with corrupt parties haggling over ministries and offices so that they can employ supporters while their pockets are made.
Ahmad al-Helfi, a 39-year-old Iraqi political cartoonist, said what happened at the U.S. Capitol is a blow to democracy he tried to bring to Iraq and other countries.
“By mobilizing his supporters in an effort to overthrow the election results, Trump confirmed that instead of exporting democracy to Iraq, America imported chaos, the non-peaceful transition of power, and the lack of ‘acceptance of the election results,’ al-Helfi said.
Anahita Thoms, a German lawyer and trade expert who spent years living and working in the United States, said last week’s events will indelibly mark the image of the United States abroad. Thoms is a member of the Atlantic Bridge Board, a think tank that promotes cooperation between Europe and the United States, the type of organization founded after World War II when the United States helped rebuild the economies of many countries. Western Europe that had been destroyed by war.
Germany was one of the countries that benefited most from these financial and democracy efforts of the United States.
Looking to the future, he said U.S. officials may have more difficulty promoting democracy abroad.
“The United States is still a country that lives up to its democratic values. But this aspiration, which is very strong in the outside world, should not have too many cracks, “Thoms said.” I think it will take a lot of diplomatic skill to counter these images. “
The International Crisis Group, which typically focuses on global war zones, wrote its first assessment of the risk of electoral violence in the United States in October. Stephen Pomper, who helped lead the work on the report and lives in the DC area, said that in the best of circumstances, the United States could finally signal Congress’ decision to resume election certification. of Biden after the rape as a first step to successfully protect his democracy.
“Look, we have created these institutions. They became a source of resistance for us. They helped us get through this difficult period. We’re going to help you develop the same kind of resistance, ”he said, describing a hypothetical future conversation between the U.S. and a troubled government.“ That would be a positive story to be able to tell at some point, but I think the pieces still they are not enough “.
Pope Francis was more optimistic and told Italian broadcaster Mediaset, “Thank God, that exploded” because “we were able to see why this is and how it can be solved.”
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Associated Press writers Kirsten Grieshaber and Frank Jordans in Berlin, Abdulrahman Zeyad in Baghdad, Matt Lee in Washington; and Frank Bajak in Boston contributed.