Trump’s Kaiser Wilhelm Approach to Diplomacy – Foreign Policy
▻http://foreignpolicy.com/2018/05/29/trumps-kaiser-wilhelm-approach-to-diplomacy
Là encore, superbe accroche dans la newsletter : un #Kaiser_Trump très #wilhelmien !
For the U.S. president, like the last German monarch, foreign policy is all about personal ego, not national interests.
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If the rest of the world comes to believe that Trump really only cares about his own ego and pocketbook — and that he will threaten nuclear war to protect his image — then the space for any workable relationships disintegrates. Without the recognized ballast of national interests to discipline policymaking, a powerful country becomes an erratic menace. How can anyone — ally or adversary — invest in an agreement with Washington when the country’s policies are driven by arbitrary presidential whims? That kind of unpredictability can only inspire preparation for the worst — outcomes that then become self-fulfilling.
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Trump’s tone and language are #Wilhelmine. The aggressive pettiness and delusional self-importance on display in his letter make him a similar source of conflict. And his status as the leader of one of the most powerful states gives his blowtorch personality unparalleled influence over delicate negotiations. The world is coming to realize that Trump’s imperiousness is highly flammable and resistant to all the diplomatic norms imbibed by the great powers since Wilhelm II’s disastrous reign.
Historical analogies like this one have their limits. The divergences between Trump and Wilhelm II, and the differences between their respective societies, are significant. They operate in domestic and international systems that are historically and institutionally far apart from one another.
Trump’s churlish letter to Kim, however, leads us back to Wilhelm II. The inherited language of diplomacy exists for a reason. It focuses attention on interests, cooperation, and stability among nations with different preferences and commitments. It also de-personalizes negotiations among leaders to facilitate crisis avoidance and de-escalation of conflict. Trump is the first major world leader since Wilhelm II to trash the careful and strategic language of diplomacy so flagrantly.
Trump’s actions point to the same isolation and militarism that brought the German monarch and his country to ruin. Wilhelm II witnessed the defeat of his empire, and he abdicated to ignominious exile in the Netherlands after millions of citizens died. Contemporary world leaders, including those in the U.S. Congress, must act vigorously to limit Trump’s power before he comes to a similar, and even more destructive, end.