Never in recent memory has the fate of the world at the approach of a New Year hinged on one person as it does today. In recent weeks, it has seemed that key political and economic decisions in the world's political capitals are on hold until Donald Trump's assumption of office as President of the United States next January.
The US is, by a wide margin, the world's pre-eminent power. The actions of its President are bound to impact the rest of the world. However, Mr. Trump is not just another US President. In respect of both foreign and economic policy, he represents a sharp discontinuity, one that is potentially disruptive for the US as well as the rest of the world. That is why the world watches with bated breath.
In the realm of geopolitics, the world awaits Mr. Trump's moves in respect of two hot spots, West Asia and Ukraine. Economic policymakers are bracing for Mr. Trump's moves on two of his key promises: Higher tariffs on imports into the US and a crackdown on illegal immigration.
The demonization of Mr. Trump is so common in the Western mainstream media that he isn't being given credit for swearing by something that few would disagree with: The world could do with fewer wars. It is worth quoting from a speech Mr. Trump made in March 2023:
"We need PEACE without delay. In addition, there must also be a complete commitment to dismantling the entire globalist neo-con establishment that is perpetually dragging us into endless wars, pretending to fight for freedom and democracy abroad, while they turn us into a third-world country and a third-world dictatorship right here at home. The State Department, the defense bureaucracy, the intelligence services, and all the rest need to be completely overhauled and reconstituted to fire the Deep Staters and put America First."
If that is not radical thinking, one knows not what is. The big question is whether the Deep State will let Mr. Trump get on with the agenda he has in mind.
This story is from the December 13, 2024 edition of Business Standard.
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This story is from the December 13, 2024 edition of Business Standard.
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