EDITORIAL – FEB 2025 – REVERSAL OF VALUES
Reversal of values
President Donald Trump’s return to the White House underpins a trend that has now been gathering pace for some time.
The concept of Western values, as championed for so many years, is now off the table.
Within hours of taking office, Trump slashed a raft of hallowed tenets from climate change to gender identity while threatening to take action against the sovereign nation of Panama to regain American control of the canal.
He issued immediate pardons for 1,500 activists involved in the bloody storming of the Capital four years ago, even though several were serving long sentences of between 10 and 22 years.
Meanwhile, outgoing president Joe Biden took the unusual step of issuing pre-emptive pardons to protect colleagues and family members whom he feared would be targeted by the Trump administration.
These are not the usual actions of a developed democracy.
In a peaceful transition of power, the judiciary is not meant to be weaponised by an incoming administration for political revenge. Nor should the courts’ decisions be overridden in such a sweeping manner by a head of state, particularly when it comes to violent insurgency.
Such trends are more familiar among rocky governments of the Global South with weak rule-of-law and corrupt institutions.
We are, therefore, entering a new era where values are diminished and mercantile geostrategic deal-making is the order of the day. The catchphrase for the Trump era is transactionalism.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio explained succinctly that everything the United States does must be answered by one of three questions: ‘Does it make us stronger? Does it make us safer? And does it make us more prosperous?’
Gone, then, are the fundamentals on which US foreign policy has long been based – economic and military strength, multilateral cooperation and free trade, with democracy and human rights as cornerstones in executing policy.
Little of this now counts.
The developed world, particularly Europe, is far more wary than the developing world, which is more familiar with autocracy, fluid values and unpredictability.
Many in the Global South view Trump as an opportunity to rebalance power and modernise the much-cited rules-based world order which is now challenged on multiple fronts and is creaking at its outdated seams.
Asia is well-prepared and has already proven its metal.
During the last administration, Japan and Australia moved in quickly to rescue a regional trade bloc threatened with collapse once Trump withdrew. The 12-member Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership now spans the Pacific and accounts for 13 per cent of global trade. Neither America nor China are members.
The US approach to the region will continue to focus on countering Chinese expansion. Policies will include pressuring allies to pay more for defence, specifically Japan and South Korea,which host American troops, aircraft and warships.
Trump’s antennae will be on the lookout for loyalty, judging friendship by how closely a nation supports American policy, including its handling of Beijing.
India, a leader on the newly emerging multi-polar, non-aligned platform, must be careful.
Delhi wants a close but not too close relationship with Washington and needs to decide what carrots it can dangle to keep America where it wants.
Trump’s inaugural speech was light on foreign policy detail, indicating that he would prioritise domestic affairs while taking time to work out how best to operate in the Asia-Pacific.
Beijing is attracted to the transactional businessstrands of Trump’s character,partly because there is no preaching of values and partly because everything can be on the table to get deals done.
The concept of ‘decoupling’ or separating the two economies would be unworkable because they are critically interlinked, accounting for 40 per cent of world trade.
Given Trump’s vow not to start wars, he and President Xi Jinping have a chance to reset and end smouldering hostility and to come to agreements that remove the constant threat of conflict hanging over the region.
There are deals to be forged over trade, North Korea, China’s security within the Asia-Pacific and the future of Taiwan.
In this respect, Beijing, needs to reach out with its own initiatives, negotiate on what it wants and become a pivotal player in a new world order catalysed by Donald Trump back again in the White House.