Trump, Up And Charging

'Many countries are nervous about Donald Trump returning to power, but India is not one of them'

- Kanwal Sibal

THE United States still exerts great influence on global developments, even though it does not dominate them as much as before. It is still the biggest military, economic and technological power. Its policies, therefore, shape the international discourse on cross-cutting global issues.

This explains the great international interest in the outcome of the presidential election in the US, with Donald Trump back in power.

Trump, seen as unpredictable and mercurial, took positions in his first term that were considered highly disruptive even by his allies. He questioned the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) relevance, wanted Europe to bear more burden for its own security, viewed the European Union (EU) as an economic rival and supported Brexit. The fear is that in his second term, he may become more assertive towards Europe. His willingness to quickly find a solution to the Ukraine conflict has deeply unnerved President Volodymyr Zelensky and the Europeans.

Trump has spurned multilateralism. In his first term, he walked out of the Paris Climate Change Agreement, the WHO, the UNESCO, the Trans-Pacific Partnership project and the nuclear agreement with Iran. He could once again walk out of the Paris Agreement, after the Joe Biden administration rejoined it. His robust support for the US expanding the drilling of oil and gas to be able to dominate the global energy scene bodes ill for climate change discussions. He will put more pressure on India to buy more US oil and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).