International politics has never seemed so depressing as it is today.
Putin’s cheerleader in chief, no other than one Donald Trump, President of the United States, has done a deal accepting Russian diesel, called for Zelenskyy to go, partly denied Ukraine access to intelligence to protect its skies, although apparently now reversed (it is scary how much reliance there is on Elon Musk’s starlink systems), advocates Europe ending sanctions on Russia and generally accepts taking a nation by force is a legitimate activity.
Trump’s ‘special’ envoy, Witkoff, earlier this week in talks with Putin saluted him as a humanitarian. What? Try telling that to supporters of murdered Russian political opponents and Ukrainians.
Trump’s emissary to Putin would be better sticking to real estate…
Trump even found time to congratulate the UK on opening up the Jackdaw oil field this week. How sweet… Mind your own damn business. You have a war in the Middle East of your own making to fight. Why don’t you focus on that in the middle of the night.
We knew Trump loved strongmen but underestimated his total lack of morality in pursuing this fetish.
There no longer appears to be many checks and balances on this president domestically. The Democrats rage impotently at him, mired in their own divisions and without clear leadership. The courts just about keep him in check within the US but a Republican thrashing in the mid-terms is by no means certain. Trump has a record disapproval rating of over 60 per cent but still approximately a third of Americans polled think he is doing a reasonable job. FFS! Just think about America’s participation in the disaster of the Iran war, led there by Israel’s Prime Minister, Netanyahu, who wiser presidents shunned. Add in all the lies and corruption and Trump’s ratings should be in single figures.
So we turn to Europe…. In the two largest economies, the AfD in Germany, apologists for Putin, are ascendant in the polls. Marine Le Pen, favoured to win the French presidential election next year and a debtor of a Russian bank for an earlier election campaign, wants to leave NATO’s integrated control. She walks around with an electronic tag, temporarily suspended, hanging over her head so to speak, after being found guilty of corruptly stealing EU funds to support her domestic political operations. One is already nostalgic for past European leaders, even the disastrous, soon to be unemployed President Macron whose vanity finally overwhelmed him.
The continent is potentially in a real mess, mired in debt, mostly to even greater levels than the UK. Their voters are revolting which is all good news for Putin keen to sow mayhem on his doorstep to avoid any sort of accountability. I can’t believe I am saying this but should we perhaps hold off on further EU integration for now..?
International politics is at a turning point. Moderates are on the back foot almost everywhere. Trump’s presidency has made the weather globally just like Farage in the UK. Sensible, humane politicians need to strengthen their backbones, create a ruthless strategy for defending liberal democracy, and get on with it.
And where is the UK in all this? Well, fairly OK actually. Identify the potential leaders in Europe and the USA who can turn things around. I bet you are struggling for names… Against that backdrop, hug Burnham, Badenoch, and our parliamentary democracy close. The UK brand is not dead yet…
