Fast Forward On Implementing Pledges

Within a short span the Trump administration has escalated tensions, political, economic and military, all over the world.

- John Cherian

ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL, DONALD TRUMP had promised to be a true friend of Israel and scrap the nuclear deal with Iran. He had also said the greatest mistake that the United States made in Iraq was to allow the government in Baghdad to retain control over the country’s oil. Trump was constantly railing against China over issues ranging from trade to the South China Sea. Now he is even threatening to oppose China’s “One China” policy. However, it was his stance on immigration, particularly his pledge to stop Muslims from entering the U.S. and the promise to build a “great wall” along the long border with Mexico, that galvanised his voter base and, at the same time, turned world public opinion against him.

Many Americans as well as world leaders were under the misguided impression that Trump’s campaign rhetoric was just a populist electoral tactic. But within weeks of taking over, he has proved otherwise. The decision to implement a ban on Muslims from certain countries is only one illustration. Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Libya and Somalia, whose citizens have been subjected to the ban, have long been in the crosshairs of U.S. administrations. Some of these countries have already been subjected to American attacks or invasion. It was the Barack Obama administration that first introduced stricter vetting procedures before giving visas to citizens from these countries. In 2011, it stopped processing visa applications from Iraq for six months. Military allies of the U.S., such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Pakistan, have been exempted from the ban. Saudi Arabia and Qatar, along with the U.S., are most responsible for the current carnage in the region and the consequent refugee problem.