AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): When Donald Trump in the election competition of 2016 talked about decline of the US power and image globally, capitalism's media outlets dismissed his remarks as invalid and unjustified. But few in the American political arena can deny this fact presently. Now more than ever Trump and new right's view about the US fall as a hegemonic power looks more acceptable.
Undoubtedly, Trump was right to say no one on the world stage is counting on the US and the promises of its president anymore. He was also well aware that, unlike in the past, European allies as well as US rivals in the world system do not trust or fear the country.
But now the question is why are views of Trump as a rightist and hard-line president, who before his presidency had no political experience, are tenable? Or we better answer another question first: What is the center of gravity of the US global hegemony downturn?
Trust, the center of the gravity of the US power decline
For decades, one of the cornerstones of the US global power has been its network of regional allies around the world. But in the past decade, and especially recently, developments such as Washington's scandalous withdrawal from Afghanistan and the betrayal of Ashraf Ghani's government in Kabul, leaving the Syrian Kurdish forces, which since 2014 acted as Washington's infantry on the ground, to the mercy of Turkish military in northern Syria, and very recently betraying pro-Western Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the face of Russia have decreased to the lowest point the American prestige among its allies.
In the not-so-distant past, in the years following the collapse of the Eastern Bloc in the early 1990s and even in the decades that followed, the US support for Europe and all its allies during the Cold War was a guarantee of an end to any political crisis, because it was assumed that Washington would be willing to support its allies in any case, and this led to the acceptance of Washington's leadership on a large scale. But Washington's repeated betrayals and misdeeds to its allies on the world arena now not only deprecate Washington prestige but also set off the alarm bells to actors placing their security on the American promises of support in times of need.
Ukraine, the latest on list of victims of Western betrayal
Perhaps when Ashraf Ghani and other Afghan government officials were on their way to the airport and leaving the country on the day of the fall of Kabul on August 15, 2021, even with suitcases full of dollars, the idea was constantly running through their minds that how the Americans, who invaded Afghanistan in 2001 and bore huge financial, military, and humanitarian costs and ousted the so-called terrorists from power, have now negotiated with their enemy and struck a deal and left alone puppet Ghani government and allies.
It may have been thought that the lives of Afghan people were of no value to Washington and the Anglo-Saxon alliance, and this betrayal of the Afghans was normal, but everyone seemed wrong to think so as Ukraine crisis broke out. Ukraine's Zelensky said in his first televised speech since the start of the Russian campaign that he was disappointed after talking to Western leaders, adding: "I do not see anyone fighting alongside Ukraine." This proved a reality: The US betrayal knows no non-European or European ally. It is an inseparable part of the American political nature.
Perhaps every time actor-turned-politician Zelensky appears in the front of camera with a face saddened by the American betrayal he does not believe all that acting experience and presence in front of camera cannot hide the grief caused by his country being fooled into steeping in the swamp of war with promise of support from the White House. Indeed, the US and Biden are to blame for current Ukrainian crisis because it was the White House politicians who have been constantly inciting Ukraine to attack the pro-Russian breakaway eastern regions of Dontesk and Luhansk. It was Biden who encouraged Ukraine bid for NATO membership. But now all he does is send combat helmets for the Ukrainian forces.
Undoubtedly, Zelensky is not and would not be the last in the list of victims of the US betrayal. It is now believed that everyone, close and non-close allies of Washington, should reconsider their policies and abandon trust in the Americans. Here is a set of sides depending on the US for their security:
Persian Gulf monarchies: Growing fear and declining trust in the US
The recent developments in Ukraine and Afghanistan, in which the betrayal and negligence of the Americans are clearly visible, have caused more concern among the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf than any others. Arab patrimonial regimes in West Asia have become increasingly allied with the US over the past decades, especially since the end of the Cold War 1991, and put massive economic, partnership, and political partnerships with Washington on their agenda. By hosting American military bases, these countries have basically handed over their security and defense capabilities to Washington. But developments in the region over the past few years have clearly shown that, on the one hand, the US-controlled defense system is highly vulnerable and, on the other, in the event of a crisis, Washington does not support them in any way.
Trust in Washington and the East Asia security's missing link
Recent developments in Ukraine leave not only the Persian Gulf Arab countries but also the US allies, Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea, in East Asia in a state of anxiety and confusion. Under Obama-initiated "pivot to East" doctrine, the US has taken containing China as a top foreign policy priority. Now, however, the East Asian countries are looking at the future of the trust in the US with doubt. Countries such as Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong region, and even Vietnam, meanwhile, are more concerned about the prospect of cooperation and Washington's support for themselves in the face of existing threats.
Even Washington has realized this in the last few months. In an interview with ABC News on August 19, 2021, US President Joe Biden said that the situation in Taiwan was different from that in Afghanistan, as if Washington had signed an open military cooperation agreement with Taiwan. But the reality is that in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan or a North Korean military move against Japan and South Korea, the likely scenario is that the West will adopt an approach like that adopted to Ukraine.
Iraqi and Syrian Kurds, the constant victims of trust in the US
It is not just state actors that are growing concerned about future relations with the US. It is sometimes groups, like Syrian and Iraqi Kurds. The Iraqi Kurdistan region has since 1991 tied its security to the US policies and this while more than once it fell victim to the US treacherous policy. With the Kurdish region way inferior than the European Ukraine to the US, it is not difficult to predict what the Americans do in case of threats to the Kurdish autonomy.
In addition to Iraqi Kurds, the Syrian Kurds after 2014 played as the US infantry on battlegrounds and tied their existence to Washington backing. The Syrian Kurds fell victim to American disloyalty in two Turkish invasions of Afrin in 2018 and Eastern Euphrates in 2020, but also refused to cooperate with the central government. Recent developments in Ukraine and the scandalous fleeing of Americans from Afghanistan could cause more concern for the Iraqi Kurds in Syria than for any other actor in the world. The Americans, who sacrificed an independent country and a puppet government in Afghanistan and lately in Ukraine, will no doubt easily abandon the Kurds who are just sub-national proxies for them.
Pro-American Iraqis and US support mirage
There are sides in Iraq that back closeness to and trust in Washington under strategic agreements and security pacts. In other words, they seek to guarantee Iraq people security and stay in power for themselves by putting all of their eggs in the US support basket. But Afghanistan and now Ukraine developments brought them face to face with a harsh reality: Essentially, trust in the Americans not only for the Iraqis but also for the puppet Arab rulers is of no avail.
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