Opinion: America Great, America First, America Alone

World
Europe

An old Chinese saying goes: “Xin Guan Shang Ren San Ba Huo”, which literally means that the newly inaugurated official wants to blaze new trails to get things done and he has three chances.

The words popped up in my mind over the weekend when I was reading the recent news clippings about the one-year performance of the US President Donald Trump. The three datelines flashed up from the cuttings: Trump raised the flag of “Make America Great Again” during the campaign, Trump outlined his “America First” policy during his inauguration address, and Trump modified his policy as “America first does not mean America alone” during his speech at Davos. The three events are in a natural sequence of Trump’s trilogy since taking office in the White House: aiming high, jumping vigorously and hitting the ground!

A picture of US President Donald Trump and "Make America Great Again" caps are displayed for sale at the Guntoberfest gun show in Oaks, Pennsylvania, US, October 6, 2017. /VCG Photo

The biggest challenge facing America is that it has been losing power as a world leader politically, economically and militarily over the past decades.

Politically, the US acted as “Leader of the Free World” and became the world’s dominant superpower when the Soviet Union was breaking down at the end of the Cold War. But now, new world order is taking shape based on multi-polarization.

Economically, the US dollars used to be directly linked with the gold and widely used to settle accounts in international trade. But now, aftermaths of the global financial crisis in 2008 continuously remind people of its originating source in the US. By the way, the US stocks plunged on Monday, with Dow industrials falling nearly 1,600 point – its biggest intraday decline in history! Euros, Yen and even Chinese Yuan are replacing the greenbacks in international transactions.

Militarily, when the US decided to intervene in the Korean War during the 1950s, 14 other countries joined in. When the US decided to wipe out Saddam and his mass-destructive weapons during the Second Gulf War in 2003, a few countries sent troops for the US-led military actions. But when the US decided to topple by force Bashar Assad of Syria for allegedly using chemical weapons against his people in 2013, the US could only get voice support from its allies.

US President Donald Trump delivering his inaugural address after he was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States during the presidential inauguration ceremony at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, January 20, 2017. /Xinhua Photo

In the eyes of Trump, it’s more urgent to solve the domestic problems including “gangs, drugs, crime, poverty, and unemployment”. How to achieve that? Trump believed the key lies in the policy of putting America first. “From this day forward, it’s going to be only America first,” he said during the inauguration. He was confident that he could apply his business success into politics and make America great again!

Actually, Trump is not the first one to make use of the “America First” slogan. In 1916, the incumbent Democratic President Woodrow Wilson won the election by adopting the slogan of “America First” as more Americans wanted to maintain neutrality and avoid being involved in World War I in Europe or the Mexican Revolution at that time. Ironically, the United States did enter the war the following year and began its journey to become a superpower.

A century later, Trump picks up the slogan in the hope of saving the US from falling down. He started by remedying international arrangements with other countries first. He thought if the US leads the way, the others will follow as there’s no alternative for them. However, things turned out other ways.

US President Donald Trump shows off an executive order to withdraw the US from the TPP trade pact, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, January 23, 2017. /VCG Photo

For example, when Trump decided to pull out from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) last year, Japan took over the helm to keep the idea alive. It was announced by Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau in Davos that 11 countries had concluded a new agreement that will maintain their alliance called the CPTPP. When asked to comment on the progress, US President Trump said that he would rejoin TPP “if we made a much better deal than we had”.

When Trump decided to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, the mechanism didn’t fall apart. As a matter of fact, other countries, including long-time US allies, Great Britain, Germany and France, all maintained their commitment to the accord and criticized the US for its irresponsible decision.

When Trump threatened to walk away from the Iran nuclear deal, other players rose in protection. When Trump announced to recognize East Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the majority of the UN member states voted against him.

US President Donald Trump delivers a speech during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, January 26, 2018. /VCG Photo

When addressing Davos, US President Donald Trump defended his “America First” policy, saying it was “just like the leaders of other countries should put their country first also”. But, he was quick to add that “America first does not mean America alone” and the bottom-line is “When the United States grows, so does the world”. The world is still watching how Trump can make a balance between the American first and the others first.

I don’t know whether Trump realizes the simple fact that when he decides to renegotiate the deals, agreements and contracts with other countries because he deemed them “unfair”, he is putting the US’s credibility as a world power at risk. A deal is a deal. Once signed, the signing parties must honor it. Any amendment must be agreed upon by the parties concerned, not unilaterally. Otherwise, the existing international order and international norms will be broken and the world will be left in chaos.

In today’s world, all countries’ economic growth and social development are more or less intertwined together via globalization. Although the countries, like one has different sized fingers, have different conditions and strengths. No single country can deal with all the problems and survive on its own. If you are alone without partners or opponents, no matter how great you are, you are “first to none”!

(With a doctoral degree in communications from the Communication University of China, the author has been working in the field of international journalism for 30 years. The article reflects the author's opinion, and not necessarily the views of CGTN.)