By Bernard Rowan
Last week, Donald Trump announced the United States will leave the Paris climate accord. This action pleases some of his constituents. It's raised a greater firestorm of criticism throughout much of the world. I'm afraid it signals to many an abdication of global leadership, creating various power vacuums.
Trump advances unreasonable positions that threaten years of careful efforts and show a needless, reckless part of his foreign policy vision. What do I mean? It's a sad day when China trumps American influence by default. True, America has a horrible record of exempting itself from international protocols and accords. But Trump's bellicose style brings resentment of American exceptionalism to a head. It now stands as one of the greater causes of decreasing American power and influence globally. It hurts the credibility of a country to ask her peers to do more than she does herself.
Leaving Paris leaves others to chart the future. That's fine in one sense, since the good of environmental justice and sound energy policy trumps nationalism. However, given the importance of American economic and political interests worldwide, it's also a step backwards of great proportions. Better examples will occur by actions of other nations and multilateral organizations.
The United States and other countries face significant internal cultural pressures from conservative and traditional voters. Growing social diversity and growing immigrant populations are challenges. The threat of global terror continues. Wobbly economies, falling real incomes for citizens, and frustrated expectations for younger adults and youth also rank as causes for discontent.
Under Obama and Clinton, the United States gave impulse to these currents through the failed experiment called the Arab Spring. It unleashed great misery and social costs for the planet by meddling in the internal affairs of Arab and Muslim states. I don't think Donald Trump aspires to convert other countries to American-style democracy. He's an isolationist. "The Donald" coins on resentment of wealth and nonnative peoples. Though unreasonable, it joins for many with a feeling that American internationalism is expensive, dangerous, and hurts regular folk.
Where and when I grew up, the Jesus movement-type Christian cult leaders, Tony and Susan Alamo were local isolationists. Their followers leafleted cars in church parking lots with pictures of Thatcher, Reagan, and the Pope, naming globalism as a perversion. Trump panders to this thinking, I'm afraid. Playing to countless dispossessed Americans, he blames others for the decline in American incomes and wealth. There's also the willingness to blame other Americans too, if they look, think, and feel differently than the in-group.
Trump's posturing lacks the support of facts. Leaving off environmental policy vectors pleases a distinct minority of economic interests locally but finally will cost Americans (and the world) much more, both locally and globally. The days of coal power (as one example) are passing. It won't be so long before the days of petroleum and oil power go the way of coal. By pulling out of Paris, as it were, Trump lulls American political culture into a false sense of security. He can protect and produce more investment in the coal industry, but its market share will continue to decline for broader reasons. Bullish and stubborn behavior hastens the fall.
China, India, Europe, and many other nations, including Korea, will continue to innovate. They will continue to propose the environmental technologies of tomorrow and reap the benefits of insisting on next generation solutions. Trump promises more coal, more oil, and more isolation from advancement. America falls behind, again and further, to the delight of present-day Luddites. It's a bad day.
Bernard Rowan is associate provost for contract administration and professor of political science at Chicago State University. He is a past fellow of the Korea Foundation and former visiting professor at Hanyang University. Reach him at browan10@yahoo.com
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Trump advances unreasonable positions that threaten years of careful efforts and show a needless, reckless part of his foreign policy vision. What do I mean? It's a sad day when China trumps American influence by default. True, America has a horrible record of exempting itself from international protocols and accords. But Trump's bellicose style brings resentment of American exceptionalism to a head. It now stands as one of the greater causes of decreasing American power and influence globally. It hurts the credibility of a country to ask her peers to do more than she does herself.
Leaving Paris leaves others to chart the future. That's fine in one sense, since the good of environmental justice and sound energy policy trumps nationalism. However, given the importance of American economic and political interests worldwide, it's also a step backwards of great proportions. Better examples will occur by actions of other nations and multilateral organizations.
The United States and other countries face significant internal cultural pressures from conservative and traditional voters. Growing social diversity and growing immigrant populations are challenges. The threat of global terror continues. Wobbly economies, falling real incomes for citizens, and frustrated expectations for younger adults and youth also rank as causes for discontent.
Under Obama and Clinton, the United States gave impulse to these currents through the failed experiment called the Arab Spring. It unleashed great misery and social costs for the planet by meddling in the internal affairs of Arab and Muslim states. I don't think Donald Trump aspires to convert other countries to American-style democracy. He's an isolationist. "The Donald" coins on resentment of wealth and nonnative peoples. Though unreasonable, it joins for many with a feeling that American internationalism is expensive, dangerous, and hurts regular folk.
Where and when I grew up, the Jesus movement-type Christian cult leaders, Tony and Susan Alamo were local isolationists. Their followers leafleted cars in church parking lots with pictures of Thatcher, Reagan, and the Pope, naming globalism as a perversion. Trump panders to this thinking, I'm afraid. Playing to countless dispossessed Americans, he blames others for the decline in American incomes and wealth. There's also the willingness to blame other Americans too, if they look, think, and feel differently than the in-group.
Trump's posturing lacks the support of facts. Leaving off environmental policy vectors pleases a distinct minority of economic interests locally but finally will cost Americans (and the world) much more, both locally and globally. The days of coal power (as one example) are passing. It won't be so long before the days of petroleum and oil power go the way of coal. By pulling out of Paris, as it were, Trump lulls American political culture into a false sense of security. He can protect and produce more investment in the coal industry, but its market share will continue to decline for broader reasons. Bullish and stubborn behavior hastens the fall.
China, India, Europe, and many other nations, including Korea, will continue to innovate. They will continue to propose the environmental technologies of tomorrow and reap the benefits of insisting on next generation solutions. Trump promises more coal, more oil, and more isolation from advancement. America falls behind, again and further, to the delight of present-day Luddites. It's a bad day.
Bernard Rowan is associate provost for contract administration and professor of political science at Chicago State University. He is a past fellow of the Korea Foundation and former visiting professor at Hanyang University. Reach him at browan10@yahoo.com
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