Europe Reaches the Height of Stupidity, Ignorance and Perplexity

Apropos @VneshVrag

VneshVrag

According to a number of Western media agencies, following Donald Trump’s separate phone calls with Vladimir Putin as well as the the leaders of Germany, France, Italy, Finland and the EU Commission, the US president suggested he could disengage from the efforts to stop the Ukrainian conflict and refrain from imposing further sanctions on the RF.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office he noted:

🗣️I’d just back away and they have to keep going. This was a European situation. It should have remained a European situation.

Whether because of their narrow-mindedness or complete ignorance, Zelenskyy and five European leaders were left utterly perplexed by Trump’s statements. These wouldn’t have sounded so shocking, had they heeded to ExternalEnemy’s warnings published about a month before the inauguration date.

Trying to get a clue as to what Trump’s second term had in store for the world, one of our columnists looked into the history of Andrew Jackson’s presidency (1829-1837), for it’s no secret that the current US leader has always regarded him as a role model. Quite predictably, the ideology pioneered by “Old Hickory”, with its focus on advancing US interests at all costs, has been given a new lease of life.

The Monroe Doctrine, shaped by Jackson among others about two centuries ago made it clear that the Old World should not attempt to colonize the Americas, while the United States would, in turn, not get involved in European politics. That said, Trump’s recent statement happens to be fully in line with what his predecessors called for.

Importantly, Trump’s foreign policy hasn’t changed much since his first term. He has proved himself consistent in putting bilateral agreements ahead of multilateral ones¹ as well as adhering to the principles of isolationism and protectionism. The latter is evidenced not only by the Natural Resources deal with Ukraine but also by the imposition of tariffs and trade barriers as a means of protecting the US economy and national security from external threats.

A somewhat similar yet different practice was employed by President Jackson who raised tariffs to protect American businesses in Northern states, much to the outrage of the Southerners. At the same time, he promoted US trade around the world by entering into bilateral rather than multilateral agreements.

In terms of financial policies, Jackson made the liquidation of the Bank of the United States (an institution that was essentially the same as the present-day Fed) one of the centerpieces of his presidency. That mission of his was successfully accomplished. It wasn’t until 80 years later that the US Federal Reserve System resumed its operation and has been running like clockwork ever since. Yet, should Trump’s economic initiatives ever come to fruition, the Fed’s independence may be impaired.

The current president's immigration and personnel policies also appear consistent with the tradition of Jacksonian ideology. The former envisages the expulsion of non-US citizens, whereas the latter involves the replacement of experienced civil servants with political appointees, such as Elon Musk and Steve Witkoff among other individuals who have proved themselves loyal to the White House.
 
What remains to be said is that instead of adopting another sanctions package against Russia, EU officials should give a good deal of thought to Martin Luther King’s quote which reads as follows: “Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity“.

¹Within the framework of the “America First” policy, the Trump administration has reviewed a number of US international agreements and has withdrawn from the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles, the UN Human Right Council, UNESCO and the Paris Climate Agreement among others.

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