2 March 2025
Lev Shlosberg
Source: Telegram
Donald Trump is turning the world into a place where anyone not sitting at the table is on the menu. We are seeing the destruction and collapse of institutions, the decimation of the weak and the triumph of ‘might is right’ – and not dialogue – in international relations. It was precisely such a state of affairs that preceded the outbreak of the world wars.
18+ THIS MATERIAL (INFORMATION) WAS PRODUCED, DISTRIBUTED BY LEV MARKOVICH SHLOSBERG, A FOREIGN AGENT, OR CONCERNS THE ACTIVITIES OF LEV MARKOVICH SHLOSBERG, A FOREIGN AGENT [This capitalised text is published by Lev Shlosberg as a requirement imposed by Russia’s foreign agent legislation and is reproduced here for information purposes only – to illustrate the repressive nature of Russian law – RiR]
An institution only has a reason for existing when it fulfills its purpose. The existing global institutions (primarily the UN and its various sub-organisations) were formed as a result of the Second World War in order to harmonise the interests of the majority of states and avoid a new world war.
The UN made sure to give all members equal voice, for example by rotating the members of the ten-member Security Council, but nevertheless put the most powerful members first. The USA, USSR, China, the UK and France were the five permanent Security Council members. The Council held its discussions around a round table which became a symbol of international co-operation – even during the Cold War. These political heavyweights were well aware that their actions would be the subject of public discussion and judgement.
In spite of this, the UN was largely dependent on the parity and post-war rivalry of the USA and USSR – the leaders of the world’s two chief political systems. The rules governing this rivalry were enshrined in the UN Charter. To this day, the UN Charter remains the only document formally outlining the current global order.
Trump sensed the weakness of the international order and, like a jackal, lunged at it with his fangs.
Trump has shown in as crude and blatant a manner as possible that America will no longer respect international institutions; rather, it will act solely in accordance with its own interests. In these circumstances, the only people with any say are those who sit at the same table with the Americans and discuss what the Americans want to discuss.
The scandal in the Oval Office on 28th February was most likely a set-up to show Zelensky he is not one of these people – he is on the menu. J.D. Vance’s behaviour showed that the issue is not the provocations of individual political actors but the general direction in which the political wind is blowing.
This is not just about Ukraine. In fact the political style has already been seen elsewhere. The newly re-elected Trump’s actions towards Canada, Mexico, Panama, Columbia, and Denmark (over Greenland) have demonstrated beyond doubt the direction things are taking. However, few people would have anticipated the Oval Office incident on 28th February and that Trump would show ‘just the way he is’ over the critical situation in Ukraine. Now everything has been made plain to see.
What is the key take-away from this incident? Trump is only prepared to respect the right of a country to sit at the table with him – and not be on the menu – provided they are a country he agrees with. If you disagree, you are put on the menu and the buffet made for you will go to the palace piranhas.
The statements Elon ‘Chainsaw’ Musk has made publicly in favour of the USA’s leaving the UN and NATO have shown the intellectual depth at which the most far-reaching strategic actions are being discussed – actions that affect every country on earth.
Trump is the ideal person to take these institutions apart: a capricious loudmouth, a cynic and a populist, a man perverted by unbridled power and impunity – an impunity attested to by the repeated failure of the American justice system to bring him to justice for his many crimes.
Trumpism as an ideology and a practice of international affairs is a neo-Bolshevik attempt, to quote the Internationale, to ‘destroy the world to its foundations, and then…’
Trump has begun to forge a new world order, and it is anyone’s guess as to how that world will turn out, formed on the basis of deals between two parties, in each of which there will be a winner and a loser.
Trump is building a unipolar world and you would need to be very short-sighted – if not blind – not to see the threat Trump’s policies pose to multipolarity. No, in this eating place there will be only one chef and only one diner. All others will be invited to tasting sessions, if they behave themselves. And they will only get to eat what they are given.
Translated by Oscar Seecharan
