MAGA Tribalism

Portraying immigrants, particularly non-whites, as dangerous 'others', as 'animals' who 'infest' the country invokes primal fears that immigrants are a threat to American culture and security, thus encouraging Trump's base to conform to these views. This conformity, reinforced by the 'Trump Effect', emboldens MAGA followers to express racist and xenophobic ideas.

- By NARAIN BATRA The writer, an author, professor, columnist, and podcaster, is affiliated with Norwich University's Graduate College, Vermont, US

President Donald Trump's proclamation of a "golden age" for America seems to be emerging from his vision of ultranationalism and global dominance. He conjures a future where America will "flourish and be respected again all over the world" and become "the envy of every nation."

Russia's Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping have similar visions of grandeur by recovering and redeeming their glorious past through economic and military dominance.

How do we understand these megalomaniacal leaders who diminish us through their divisive rhetoric and impulsive actions? In his book Inheritance: The Evolutionary Origins of the Modern World, prominent British anthropologist Harvey Whitehouse persuasively argues that three key evolutionary traits—conformism, religiosity, and tribalism—have molded human behavior throughout history, bringing about major transformations in human societies, from the development of agriculture to the ascent of empires.

Whitehouse argues that while these inherited evolutionary traits have propelled some of the greatest advancements in human history, they are now becoming catastrophic. In today's complex geopolitical landscape, these deeply ingrained propensities threaten social cohesion, political stability, global peace, and even our environment.

Considering the rise of Trump and his recent imperialist vision, Whitehouse's framework provides a fascinating lens through which to analyze domestic and current geopolitical trends.

Trump, who earlier ran on an "America First" bandwagon promising to avoid new wars and reduce America's role as the world's sheriff, has since his re-election embraced a shockingly imperialist agenda to seize the Panama Canal and Greenland, possibly by military force, and using economic coercion to pressure Canada into becoming, more or less, the 51st state of the USA. All this while Puerto Rico, a US territory, keeps dreaming of becoming a full state in the USA.