Global leaders reject Trump’s manifesto for ‘nationalism’ and ‘patriotism’

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Editor's note: Ghanbar Naderi is an Iranian columnist and political commentator. The article reflects the author's opinion, and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

On Tuesday, September 25, world leaders laughed in the face of US President Donald Trump when he addressed the 73rd United Nations General Assembly.

The exchange of audible chuckles in the chamber hall came when Trump, who despises the UN and all it represents, boasted that his administration had accomplished more over two years than “almost any administration” in American history.

This particular moment was not surprising at all. World leaders could plainly see the devastating consequences of Trump's hostility towards the international community, international trade, and international rule of law. It marked a pointed rejoinder from the world to a president who has delighted in poking the international civil society in the eye on trade, security and diplomacy.

The bubble of political allies

The man who doesn't run away from controversy and favors US “sovereignty” over its commitments to the global community has successfully managed to threaten and weaken multilateralism and international human rights bodies.

President Donald Trump pauses after addressing the 73rd United Nations General Assembly in New York City on September 25, 2018./ VCG Photo

Perhaps, the following actions could help him escape the bubble of political allies that continually gives him the impression that everyone agreed with the false claims he made on one of the biggest stages in the world:

1. Voiding the 2015 Iran nuclear deal ratified by the UN Security Council

2. Threatening and discrediting the International Criminal Court

3. Pulling out of the UN Human Rights Council

4. Withdrawing from negotiations on the Global Compact for Migration

5. Leaving UNESCO and the Paris Climate Agreement

6. Defunding the UN Reliefs and Works Agency

7. Escalating the tariffs and trade wars with the EU, Canada, Mexico and China

The above and many other hugely damaging actions and obnoxious lies by Trump and his administration are the reasons why the world is in turmoil now. No world leader at the UN General Assembly should ever stand by idly in the face of such assault on globalism, multilateralism, human rights and the international institutions in place to defend them.

The truth is that Trump has stripped away any remaining pretense of altruism in Washington. He has shaken the foundations of multilateralism by voiding international treaties and escalating trade wars.

The world is responding in kind, of course, reaffirming its commitment to international trade, climate and security agreements, and retaliating with levies on thousands of US products, which sadly at the same time puts the world's largest economies at each other's throats. Any doubters should ask UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

President Donald Trump addresses the United Nations General Assembly in New York City, the US on September 25, 2018./ VCG Photo

Not a comedy club

What Trump and his one-man foreign policy has done to the world is not a joke and certainly the UN General Assembly is not a comedy club for a thunderous recitation of his “America First” policies or go-it-alone views that have strained US relationships with the world and destabilized the planet.

Right before Trump was forced to endure perhaps one of the most humiliating moments for a US president in front of the General Assembly, Guterres had issued a stark warning of growing chaos and confusion as the rules-based global order comes under a threat of breaking down.

Guterres told the 193-member General Assembly that trust in the global order and among states was "at a breaking point" and that international cooperation was becoming more difficult.

Thankfully, there were sound minds in the chamber to reiterate his concerns that “world order is increasingly chaotic” and “as guardians of the common good, we also have a duty to promote and support a reformed, reinvigorated and strengthened multilateral system.”

Also addressing the assembly, French President Emmanuel Macron discredited Trump (the central villain of his narrative was Iran and its government) after the US president urged the world to isolate Iran, accusing it of sponsoring terrorism and sowing "chaos, death and destruction" in the Middle East.

French President Emmanuel Macron addresses the 73rd United Nations General Assembly in New York City on September 25, 2018./ VCG Photo

This is while the country is still in the 2015 nuclear deal despite Trump's withdrawal from it, and 12 reports by the International Atomic Energy Organization have substantiated it.

Macron, nevertheless, called for "dialogue and multilateralism" on Iran, shortly after Trump promised hard-hitting sanctions against Tehran. Just like his Chinese, Russia, British and German counterparts, Macron credited the historic nuclear agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, reached between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries in 2015.

Defying Trump's wishes

Reality slapped Trump in the face when Iranian President also took aim at him in yet another defiant speech on Tuesday.

In a direct reference to the United States and its political allies, Rouhani condemned the “recklessness of some states for international values,” and the fact that while most leaders use their time on the UN stage to list the international agreements they have made or helped to protect, the protocols agreed and treaties signed, Trump clearly delighted in telling the world how many such pieces of paper he had binned.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani addresses the 73rd United Nations General Assembly in New York City on September 25, 2018./ VCG Photo

Trump may not fully understand why his second address at the General Assembly was met largely by silence from the “globalist” enemy and why world leaders laughed at him.

As Rouhani made clear, they all care about facts, as “confronting multilateralism is not a sign of strength. Rather it is a symptom of the weakness of intellect - it betrays an inability in understanding a complex and interconnected world.”

By most accounts, the law of the survival of the fittest, protectionism and isolationism that Trump advocated at the UN will only lead to heightened tensions and conflicts. It is up to world leaders, therefore, to say no to Trump's erosion of multilateralism.

Standing up for global peace and security, world leaders have a duty to safeguard multilateralism and collective action in international affairs, and reject Trump's “doctrine of patriotism” and “economic terrorism.”

They must reject the obsolete manifesto for ‘nativism' and ‘nationalism' that the champion of “America First” foreign policy is so eager to spread across the globe.

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at opinions@cgtn.com.)