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PARIS (AP) – For America’s allies and rivals, the chaos unfolding in Donald Trump’s final days as president is the logical result of four years of global instability brought on by the man who promised to change the way the world viewed the United States.
From the outside, the United States has never looked so vulnerable – or unpredictable.
Alliances that had been held for generations reached a breaking point under Trump – from his decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord and the Iran nuclear deal, to the resignation of the World Health Organization in the midst of a pandemic.
And then, in seeking to undo his defeat to Joe Biden, Trump overturned the fundamental tenet of democratic elections that the United States has attempted – and sometimes even succeeded – to export to the world. How long these aftershocks could last is unclear.
“This is one of the greatest tasks of the future for America and Europe: to fight against the polarization of society at its roots,” said German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas. “We cannot preserve the belief in unity, in democracy as the most humane form of state, and belief in science and reason, if we do it together.”
But in many ways, Europe has already moved on, moving forward on the deal with Iran, negotiating a trade deal with China led by Germany, and organizing global actions to protect the environment.
On the same day, an angry crowd stormed the Capitol in an attempt to overthrow the presidential election won by Biden, a record number of Americans died from the coronavirus. Another recent event has also shown the vulnerability of the United States: the cyber espionage operation continues to force its way through countless numbers of government computers and is blamed on Russian elite hackers.
World leaders who have seen the deadly violence in Washington “will have to ask themselves whether these events are an aberrant event – a ‘black swan’ – or whether these white supremacist extremist groups will continue to have significant influence.” on the direction of US foreign and domestic policy, instead of backing down with the end of the Trump administration, ”the Soufan Group, a global intelligence and security company, wrote on Tuesday.
People tend to think of fragile countries’ in terms of war as the biggest problem, rather than violence, and to think of state collapse as the biggest problem rather than states that are falling apart. internally, ”said Rachel Kleinfeld, democracy and violence specialist at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Kleinfeld, like many others, said the assault on the U.S. Capitol may have peaked in a matter of weeks, but has been preparing for years.
And America’s ability to fight for democracy was already tarnished before the crowd cheered on by Trump sought to reverse his electoral loss. For many, these events were only confirmation.
Opponents like Russia, China and Iran have used violence to challenge American democracy more broadly.
In an internal memo on the State Department’s “chain of dissent” obtained by The Associated Press, U.S. diplomats said Trump’s actions made their job more difficult. “It is essential that we communicate to the world that in our system no one – not even the President – is above the law or immune to public criticism,” the memo said. “It would be a first step towards repairing the damage done to our international credibility.”
Trump showed no contrition, however, saying on Tuesday his fiery rallying remarks to supporters were “entirely appropriate.”
In Iraq, a country still struggling with the controversial legacy of an invasion led by the United States in the name of democracy, many have followed the events in Washington with a mixture of shock and fascination.
Then-American President George W. Bush boasted that Iraq would become a model of democracy in a region ruled by dictators. Instead, the country fell into a protracted war between Sunnis and Shiites in which tens of thousands of people died. Although it has an active parliament and regular elections, it is a dysfunctional democracy based on a sectarian power-sharing agreement, with corrupt parties vying for ministries and positions in order to be able to provide jobs. to supporters while lining their pockets.
Ahmad al-Helfi, a 39-year-old Iraqi political cartoonist, said what happened on the US Capitol is a blow to the democracy he has tried to bring to Iraq and other countries.
“By mobilizing his supporters in an effort to overturn the election results, Trump confirmed that instead of exporting democracy to Iraq, America imported chaos, the non-peaceful transition of power and the refusal to accept the election results, ”al-Helfi said. .
Anahita Thoms, a German lawyer and trade expert who has spent years living and working in the United States, said the events of last week will indelibly mark America’s image abroad. Thoms is a board member of the Atlantic Bridge, a think tank promoting cooperation between Europe and the United States – the kind of organization founded in the aftermath of World War II when the United States helped rebuild the economies of many Western European countries that had been destroyed by war.
Germany has been one of the countries that has benefited the most from these American efforts to strengthen finances and democracy.
Looking ahead, she said U.S. officials might find it harder to promote democracy abroad.
“The United States remains a country that lives out its democratic values. But this aspiration, which is being presented very strongly to the outside world, must not have too many cracks, ”said Thoms. “I think a lot of diplomatic skills will be needed to counter these images.”
The International Crisis Group, which normally focuses on global war zones, has produced its first-ever assessment on the risk of election-related violence in the United States in October. Stephen Pomper, who helped lead work on the report and lives in the Washington area, said that in the best-case scenario, the United States could potentially signal Congress’ decision to resume certification of the election of Biden after the violation as a first step in successfully protecting his democracy.
“Listen, we created these institutions. They have become a source of resilience for us. They helped us through this very difficult time. Let us help you develop the same kind of resilience, ”he said, describing a hypothetical future conversation between the United States and a struggling government. “It would be a positive story to tell at some point, but I don’t think the pieces are quite there yet.
Pope Francis was more optimistic, telling Italian channel Mediaset: “Thank goodness it blew up” because “we were able to see why and how to fix it.”
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Associated Press writers Kirsten Grieshaber and Frank Jordans in Berlin, Abdulrahman Zeyad in Baghdad, Matt Lee in Washington; and Frank Bajak in Boston contributed.
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