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Trump’s New Normal and a Liberalism in Retreat

Trump attacks the very pillars of establishment the US created and been a part of, writes Nibir Deka.

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Trump arrives at a time when the world is transforming into a ‘New World Order’, evident from events like Brexit, the rise of the Far Right in Europe and the surge of nationalism worldwide.

Trump attacks the very pillars of establishment the US created and has been a part of. “American values of non-discrimination, fair play and extending warm welcome to foreigners is at stake”, said Barack Obama.

Trump has been likened to popular villains such as Hitler and Robespierre of ‘French Revolution’s Reign of Terror’ fame. Nevertheless, popular villains had predictability, but not Trump, who once said he would have dated Ivanka Trump had she not been his own daughter.
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Trump’s Identity Politics

Outrageously funny or Oedipal as it may seem, it lays a subtle message to counter political correctness, a liberal tendency in the US. Of the majority of people criticising Trump, constituting celebrities and comedians like Meryl Streep, Billie Joe and John Oliver, most fail to realise that Trump is manifesting a new normalcy, and once that sets in, there will be no point cracking jokes. The liberal identity shaped by the free market might be at stake for many people and they fear the new normal threatens their lifestyle.

Globalisation, outsourcing and automation have led to the decimation of the manufacturing sector in favour of countries providing cheap labour. While manufacturing flourished in low-wage countries, developed countries started to experience industrial rust belts, which led to large-scale unemployment of factory workers.

The people who benefited from this continuous change became incredibly wealthy, while the working class and middle class suffered financially, leading to higher income inequality among developed countries.

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The white working-class American lacks social mobility who blames the liberals and the elites for ripping profits as they suffer. The trend garnered more traction after the Great Recession of 2008. The identity politics of Trump gained momentum because the white majority feels under siege.

The collective emotions of Trump’s campaign “Make America Great Again” has been generated by a sense of loss Americans have felt with respect to jobs and housing. Trump is like the rebound after a long and painful break-up.

Trump promotes a skeptical stance towards globalisation from the realist standpoint that economic interdependence may lead to mutual vulnerabilities rather than cooperation. But, it is not wise to club him as a realist. He also emphasises taking back power from the cooperates and returning it to the American people. His global stand about uneven trade processes characterised by polarisation between the rich and the poor resonates on the lines of Marxist criticism. Ironically, Trump himself is a product of that same market.

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The New International Anarchy

Trump attacks the two pillars of globalisation, Interconnectedness and Interdependence. Interdependence among the countries creates collective dilemmas, meaning any kind of conflict requires international cooperation. The new mode of anarchy is international anarchy, which includes environmental issues like climate change, refugee crises, terrorism, financial crises, and development.

All of this increases the dependency for International and non-state actors like the IMF, the EU and WTO. The intensity of interconnectedness increases the magnitude of trans-border and trans-world activities like international trade, investments and even popular culture by making borders permeable.

Trump has tried to limit the zones of interdependency and interconnectedness by extricating America from the Trans Pacific Partnership and criticising the NAFTA agreement. Trump considers the idea of climate change a hoax created by the Chinese and has reduced funding for environmental activities to limit lobbying by the NGO’s.

He proposed to build a wall along the US-Mexico border in an attempt to broaden geographical distancing through this symbolic gesture. Protectionism and trade sanctions are aimed at making the borders impermeable again.
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Trump’s Views on Terrorism

His views on terrorism have been inward-looking, thereby shifting the blame to migration especially from the Islamic countries; an example is the recent imposing of travel ban. He even criticised the US involvement on Iraq War and NATO’s failure to combat global terrorism.

Trump intends to shift back to state-centrism that takes the state to be the key actor in the domestic realm and on the world stage through eliminating non-state and global actors. Hence the initial foreplay with Vladimir Putin, another state-centrist figure. An alternative perspective indicates intentions to destroy the binary of Interdependence and Interconnectedness.

Interconnectedness fosters the monopoly of capitalism as big markets monopolize through trade and hegemony. On the other hand, interdependency checks the monopoly of capitalism as commonality among the countries deters great powers to excise coercion. By destroying the binary Trump strives to attain a new order per se, fostering the existing ‘New World Order’ as mentioned in the beginning. The interim buffer zone is the ‘Trumped state’.

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(Nibir Deka is a student at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication. A writer and a midnight thinker, he’s also a fan of classic rock. He can be reached @nibirdeka on Twitter. This is an opinion piece and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)

(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)

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Topics:  donald trump   Travel Ban 

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