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Trump's bullying and bluster on Jerusalem is bad news for the UN
Source: The Guardian
Trump's bullying and bluster on Jerusalem is bad news for the UN
US hard-power diplomacy over Israel will end up being an expensive clash if Washington cuts its funding to the UN
Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor
Thu 21 Dec ‘17 18.49 GMT
“Strong, sovereign nations let diverse countries with different values, different cultures and different dreams not just coexist but work side by side on the basis of mutual respect,” Donald Trump said in his first speech to the UN general assembly, in September, drawing sighs of relief.
Three months later, those same diverse nations were warned by the US president’s UN ambassador, Nikki Haley, that she would take their names if they failed at the UN to support the US decision to move its embassy to Jerusalem and recognise the city as the capital of Israel. The era of mutual respect was short-lived.
Hayley’s implicit threat was that countries that defied the US president would face consequences. A few hours later, Trump made explicit what is implicit in America First diplomacy. If the UN voted against the US, he forecast that the US would “save a lot”.
-snip-
If soft power, in the words of Joseph Nye, “is the ability to get what you want through attraction rather than coercion,” then Trump has become the ultimate exponent of hard-power diplomacy.
It is partly because he is a product of a mindset that has long seen the UN as a hotbed of anti-Americanism, corruption and waste, best set out in the Fox News correspondent Eric Shawn’s book The UN Exposed. In the words of John Bolton, the US ambassador to the UN in the George W Bush administration, the UN has always represented “a target-rich environment” – especially due to its perceived anti-Israel bias.
-snip-
US hard-power diplomacy over Israel will end up being an expensive clash if Washington cuts its funding to the UN
Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor
Thu 21 Dec ‘17 18.49 GMT
“Strong, sovereign nations let diverse countries with different values, different cultures and different dreams not just coexist but work side by side on the basis of mutual respect,” Donald Trump said in his first speech to the UN general assembly, in September, drawing sighs of relief.
Three months later, those same diverse nations were warned by the US president’s UN ambassador, Nikki Haley, that she would take their names if they failed at the UN to support the US decision to move its embassy to Jerusalem and recognise the city as the capital of Israel. The era of mutual respect was short-lived.
Hayley’s implicit threat was that countries that defied the US president would face consequences. A few hours later, Trump made explicit what is implicit in America First diplomacy. If the UN voted against the US, he forecast that the US would “save a lot”.
-snip-
If soft power, in the words of Joseph Nye, “is the ability to get what you want through attraction rather than coercion,” then Trump has become the ultimate exponent of hard-power diplomacy.
It is partly because he is a product of a mindset that has long seen the UN as a hotbed of anti-Americanism, corruption and waste, best set out in the Fox News correspondent Eric Shawn’s book The UN Exposed. In the words of John Bolton, the US ambassador to the UN in the George W Bush administration, the UN has always represented “a target-rich environment” – especially due to its perceived anti-Israel bias.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/dec/21/trumps-bullying-and-bluster-on-jerusalem-is-bad-news-for-the-un
1 replies
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