Isolationism vs. sphere of influence

 
I saw something interesting the other day on Social Media.  It was an image of the President wearing a hat that was embroidered with the phrase “Trump was right about everything”.  I thought to myself, everything is defined by the word “all”, or “100 per cent”.  As I pondered this statement, I began to realize some things that didn’t align with “Trump was right about everything”

President Trump was wrong about:

I’ll build a wall and Mexico will pay for it.  No, Mexico is not paying for the wall.

I’ll stop the Russian/Ukraine war on day 1 because Putin would agree with what President Trump wanted.

About the 2020 United States presidential election, the campaign for the incumbent President Donald Trump, and the filed 62 lawsuits contesting election processes, vote counting, and the vote certification process in 9 states.  All were denied by the courts.  Some of the judges issuing judgements were appointed by President Trump himself.

The Putin Summit and the ceasefire.  The Summit to produce a ceasefire has backfired on the US.  Putin played Trump.

Sending the national guard to act as law enforcement.  This action violates the Posse Comitatus Act as determined by U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco.  The judge  set his order to go into effect Sept. 12.

Having Hegseth authorize the national guard to carry weapons while deployed in American cities to serve as law enforcement, once again a violation of the Posse Comitatus Act.

Nominating RFK, jr to head up the nation’s health.  He isn’t a scientist or a doctor; he has no formal training in this area.  And now, after enraging the CDC community with non-scientific date regarding vaccines…even the US Senate is now questioning RFK, jr’s actions.
  
Nominating Hegseth to run the Pentagon; we know he used an unsecure social app to transmit sensitive information regarding the bombing of Iran.  You criticized Biden for his withdrawal from the middle east, but it is okay to have sensitive information given out on an unsecure social app?

Zelenskyy being a war monger… Zelenskyy is not on the offensive side of this war.  He wasn’t invaded; he is protecting his country as well as he can. 

The results of the Iranian bombing; the nuclear facilities were not “obliterated” according to military intelligence reports.  US defense secretary Pete Hegseth has fired the Pentagon's intelligence agency chief, just weeks after a White House rebuke of a review assessing the impact of American strikes on Iran.  Lt Gen Jeffery Kruse will no longer serve as head of US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the Pentagon said in a statement. other senior military commanders have also been ousted by the Pentagon.

Waging economic war using tariffs.  The President has over stepped his authority.  Article I, section 8, of the Constitution begins with the clause, “Congress shall have the power” and followed by  “to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes”.  Consequently, the President’s use of tariffs may be construed as “illegal”.

But most importantly, President Trump IS wrong about leading America into an isolationist policy with the mantra of Make America Great Again.  Retreating from America’s position as leader of the free world has emboldened our “enemies”.  As Washington and Jefferson warned against “entangling alliances”, it was found to be necessary to join those which our nation was warned not to do.

As early as 1918, when President Woodrow Wilson floated the idea about a “League of Nations” to prevent another world war, the US Senate did not ratify the treaty, which 1) the US didn’t enter into the League of Nations; and 2) because the League of Nations was part of the Treaty of Versailles, theoretically, the US never agreed to the Treaty of Versailles which ended WW1.

Since that time in history, the US has entered into many treaties and agreements with foreign nations around the world.  Most all were to promote peace, to protect human life from disease, to share information, and to commit to fair trade. What this all amounts to is the 100 years of work former presidents and administrations have done to create a “sphere of influence” for the United States.  Some may say it is buying off people to do our will, and those people may very well be correct.  But, one thing is certain, with the exception of Pearl Harbor and 9/11, the United States hasn’t been attacked on home soil.  Other than the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, the diplomatic ideology of “sphere of influence” has worked in favor of the US.

However, during the two tenures President Trump has enjoyed, he has removed the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (a trade agreement with 12 Asian countries), The Paris Agreement (2020 and 2025), the Iran Nuclear Deal (2018), the World Health Organization (WHO, 2025), the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development Tax Agreement, which in a related manner helped set up the International Health Regulations (2025) and UNESCO (2025).  And, it appears President Trump would like to leave NATO. 
 
The President, through DOGE, has cut off foreign aid funding for many agencies all of which supported the doctrine of “sphere of influence”.

From the Cambridge Press...

“The withdrawals and related provisions of the president's announcements will end, too, U.S. involvement in the regular work of organizations pertaining to the contribution and exchange of information and expertise, such as through the collaboration of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) staff with WHO officials and colleagues from other national health offices and the support given by U.S. government-funded scientists to reports developed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.The president's actions will also end U.S. participation in institutional governance bodies, including membership on the boards of the WHO.”

“These initial actions were prelude to a broader assault on international law and organizations. A subsequent executive order targeted three United Nations (UN) bodies: the UN Human Rights Council (HRC), the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).  U.S. participation in and funding of the Human Rights Council was terminated, and seeking election to that body in the future was ruled out.  U.S. funding for UNRWA, which comprises a significant portion of that organization's budget, was cut off.  And a review of U.S. membership in UNESCO, including an “evaluation of how and if UNESCO supports United States interests,” was directed.”

Trump’s tariffs placed upon countries has alienated many trade partners.  Trump’s braggadocio regarding how only he can solve world problems has alienated foreign national leaders.  Trump’s challenging the sovereignty of world countries alienated world leaders, (think Canada being a state in the Union; think Greenland, think Panama).  This is all wrong, it shows no respect for international leaders, let alone the sovereignty of nations, and, one must ask, “What will be the result of all of this?”

This can all be realized by looking at the military parade held in China on Wednesday, September 3rd.   Not only was Putin in attendance in Bejing, but so was Kim from North Korea.  And, if one were to believe this was a rather small group of national leaders meeting in Bejing at the invitation of Chinese leader Xi Jinping, consider this:

Here’s some of the other officials who were in attendance:

·       Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan
·       Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev
·       Belarus’ President Aleksandr Lukashenko
·       Cambodia’s King Norodom Sihamoni
·       Cuba’s President Miguel Diaz-Canel
·       Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto
·       Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian
·       Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev
·       Kyrgyzstan’s President Sadyr Japarov
·       Laos’ President Thongloun Sisoulith
·       Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim
·       Maldives’ President Mohamed Muizzu
·       Mongolia’s President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh
·       Myanmar’s military chief Min Aung Hlaing
·       Nepal’s Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli
·       Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif
·       Republic of the Congo’s President Denis Sassou Nguesso
·       Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic
·       Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico
·       Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rahmon
·       Turkmenistan’s President Serdar Berdimuhamedov
·       Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev
·       Vietnam’s President Luong Cuong
·       Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa

It is not a list of global powers, but, looking at a map of the world, one would realize the significance of those countries present should all align with China.  To be sure, there were some notables not in attendance, as in some members of BRICS, which included Brazil, India, Egypt, South Africa.
   
For those who do not know, BRICS is a political and economic intergovernmental organization of ten countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates. BRICS is a grouping of major emerging economies aiming to increase their global influence and create a more multipolar world order by coordinating economic and diplomatic policies, and challenging Western dominance in global institutions and finance.  That sounds like these countries wish to implement the ideology of “sphere of influence”.

And so, I ask, if the United States continues down the path of isolationism and Putin, Kim and Xi should join up with those invited to the Bejing parade, who will hold the cards?  If one believes the US can be successful isolated from an international economic system, then one needs to consider the lifestyle one wishes to live.  As the President has said, if the US continued on the path in which it was heading, the US would have turned into a third world country.  Isolationism just make that true.
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I have my opinion, I hope you arrive at one too!