July 4th is the "Independence Day" of the United States. When the festive fireworks illuminate the night sky of the United States, facing the increasingly serious political and economic polarization, the American people who have always been proud and proud can still be their exceptions. Proud and proud? The answer seems to be less optimistic.
The US polling agency Rasmussen Reports recently released a survey showing that about one-third of respondents believe that the United States "may experience a second civil war in the next five years!" The report on poverty and inequality in the United States stated that the Trump administration’s $1.5 trillion tax cut policy “greatly benefited the rich and exacerbated the inequality between the rich and the poor in the United States.”
In fact, the Trump administration’s foreign policy is even worse.
Robert Kagan, a senior researcher at the Brookings Institution, who is known as the "neoconservative foreign policy theorist" in the United States, recently wrote an article warning that the United States may become a "rogue superpower." He pointed out that the recent US actions in the trade, the Iranian nuclear deal, the NATO defense spending, and even on the North Korean issue show that in order to make an unmanageable world succumb, or at least temporarily succumb to his will. He will not hesitate to break through the moral, ideological and strategic constraints that the US presidents have voluntarily accepted.
Indeed, since President Trump took office, the United States has withdrawn from important international agreements such as the Pacific Rim Partnership Agreement, the UN Paris Climate Change Agreement, and the Comprehensive Agreement on the Iranian Nuclear Issue; it has also withdrawn from the UN Organization, United Nations Human Rights Council. According to US media reports, President Trump has repeatedly told his aides that he wants to withdraw from the World Trade Organization (WTO). The White House even drafted a bill called the Fair and Reciprocal Tariff Act to try to circumvent the World Trade Organization. To this end, the US media took the first letter of the bill in the draft, ridiculing it. It is a draft of "Fat Fart" (FART). The Trump administration also disregarded the repeated appeals and warnings of the international community, and arbitrarily launched a trade war. With great sticks, it waved against allies and non-allies of the European Union, Canada, Mexico, China, Japan, South Korea, and tried to rely on itself. The super tonnage crushed the opponent and forced the other party to accept its "US priority" city alliance. On the day of the US "Independence Day", President Trump also accused the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) of pushing up oil and gas prices, and arrogantly asked them to "cut prices immediately." All these have shown that the current US government is a super-hooligan rogue that is dissatisfied with the current international system, that is, does not intend to abide by the existing international rules, or is superior to the current international norms.
The United States has always used the "world police" to live on its own, and has given other countries a "rogue state" hat. Over the past year, its hooliganism has caused many people of insight in the United States and deep worries in the international community.
"Washington Post" columnist Robert J. Samuelson pointed out that the greatest achievement of the United States after World War II was to actively promote international cooperation through military alliances and trade policies, and this kind of international cooperation led by the United States. It is also a milestone in the times. At a time when major economic activities and political activities are increasingly driven by international forces, the idea that the United States can thrive by embracing nationalism is the biggest reverie of Trump's rule, and it does not work. Samuelson pointed out that Trump’s devastating new isolationist remarks may be popular, but they are definitely not practical. Globalization has become entangled and ingrained, and Trump cannot destroy it, but the protectionist policies he pursues will still destroy and weaken globalization. This is a very bad choice.
Last month, 10 Senators, including Bob Corker, chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, jointly proposed a bill calling for restrictions on the US president's power to impose tariffs on imported goods on the grounds of national security.
Former NATO Secretary General Javier Solana pointed out in his recent article "Western Disintegration" that although the "Western" formed after World War II was only a vague concept, it relied on a series of common ideological pillars. To the full suppression of President Trump’s “U.S. Priority” philosophy, Trump and his core team continue to swear allies, emphasizing “can’t let our friends use us” and implement specific policies that weaken allies, such as Canada and the European Union. Steel and aluminum products are subject to punitive tariffs. In Solana's view, Trump's preference for the "divide and conquer" strategy has spawned a game that only produces losers, starting in the West and ending in the end of the world.
Obviously, when the United States has changed from a "superpower" to a "super hooligan", the enormous threat it has brought to the world has become a big problem that needs to be solved before the international community.