Qué les digo a mis amigos que no son norteamericanos

Apr 12, 2017 Joseph S. Nye, Jr.

CAMBRIDGE – Con frecuencia viajo al exterior e, invariablemente, mis amigos extranjeros preguntan, con diferente grado de desconcierto: ¿Qué diablos está pasando en tu país? Esto es lo que les digo.

Primero, no malinterpreten la elección de 2016. Contrariamente a algunos comentarios, el sistema político estadounidense no ha sido arrasado por una ola de populismo. Es verdad, tenemos una larga historia de rebelión contra las élites. Donald Trump tocó la fibra de una tradición asociada con líderes como Andrew Jackson y William Jennings Bryan en el siglo XIX y Huey Long y George Wallace en el siglo XX.

Sin embargo, Trump perdió el voto popular por cerca de tres millones de sufragios. Ganó la elección apelando al resentimiento populista en tres estados del Cinturón de Óxido -Michigan, Pennsylvania y Wisconsin- que anteriormente habían votado por los demócratas. Si cien mil votos hubieran sido emitidos de otra manera en esos estados, Trump habría perdido el Colegio Electoral y la presidencia.

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0 Comments on this paragraph, 17 Comments on this article

Michael H. May 12, 2017

Non-Americans around the world have the utmost contempt for The Don, from the old bragging "grabbing American women by their pussies", to the now infamous "wiretapping at Trump Tower by the 44th POTUS".

And Is there a better way for a candidate/president who put the slogan “America First” at the center of his campaign/presidency to prove his commitment to those words than to defraud ordinary Americans under the "Trump University" scam ?
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Michael H. May 11, 2017

The Don has lied his way to the 45th U.S. Presidency - before and after. However, the fact remains the same: More Americans voted for Hillary Clinton than any other losing presidential candidate in US history with Clinton having 65,844,954 votes (48.2%) to The Don's 62,979,879 votes (46.1%).

If the U.S. were France, namely without the Electoral College system, Clinton would have become the President. Unfortunately, 46.1% Americans are not as smart as the French: iI France were the U.S. Marco would still have been the new President having a landslide victory 0f 66% against The Don's copycat Le Pen.

And unfortunately, the Electoral College mechanism has twice proved to be an impediment to the democratic process: George W. Bush won the Electoral College vote but Al Gore won the popular vote. And history has repeated in the 2016 U.S presidential election.
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Robert Kolker Apr 16, 2017

By Jove you got it! The 2016 election was all about rejecting Hillary. If the Democrats had run Bernie Sanders they would have run. But Hillary's buddies in the Democrat Party, in the DNC decided it was God's will that we have a female president and that female was Hillary, Herself. Such arrogance. Such stupidity. Such a defeat.

The composition of the House of Representatives show that the rejection of the liberal progressive program of the Democrat Party is genuine and comprehensive
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Jack Harllee Apr 15, 2017

Nye's understandable focus on three Rust Belt states misses the larger picture. A boorish ignoramus with no qualifications was able to get 46% of the vote. His opponent should have overwhelmed him, yet she could not get even a majority of the popular vote. (48% is not a majority.) The populist outrage is deeper than Nye seems to recognize.
- Robert Kolker Apr 16, 2017
  
  And look at Congress! The Democrats were skunked.
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G B Apr 15, 2017

The US/NATO illegally attacks (e.g Iraq, Libya, etc.) (which are war crimes) resulted in atrocious occupations, destructive civil wars, their homes destroyed leaving millions of innocent people (including children, women) being raped / murdered / injured / traumatized / displaced, captive women being sold as concubines, hundreds of thousands of refugees flooding Europe, drowned toddlers being washed ashore...

The U.S./NATO destabilize and set fires to the whole region which have simply radicalized and created more and more terrorists, leaving these countries convulsing in bloody violence as a result of these U.S./NATO illegal invasions/attacks/meddling.
IS (& other terrorist groups which are even more radicalized/extreme than Al-Qaeda) are simply the products of the US (UK& the lot) illegal invasions/attacks of Iraq(Libya, etc).

The Shia/Sunnis schism is another root cause. Though they may not interact much outside the public sphere, there are many exceptions. Example: In urban Iraq, intermarriage between Sunnis and Shia was, until recently, quite common. But since the illegal invasion of Iraq, the hostility of Shia/Sunnis has been aggravated immensely which shows the ulterior motives of US/NATO, all Muslims must be united to recognize their ulterior motives.

The more illegal US/NATO attacks (Syria, etc) have worsened it even much further.

The region’s governments – Syria, Saudi, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, and elsewhere – have both the incentive and the means to reach mutual accommodations. What is stopping them is the belief that the US or some other outside power will deliver a decisive victory on their behalf - if you like Uncle Sam is the puppet attached to the strings manipulated by Middle-East puppeteers to do the dirty work and this is another root cause which worsens/provokes more violence/bloodshed.

US’s track records in meddling in these countries have not been anything to crow about, in fact U.S. has screwed up very badly repeatedly - prime examples of how not to do things.

U.S. is now a vicious part of the problem which increasingly worsens the conflicts in these countries provoking/escalating violence leading to more & more innocent people being murdered / raped / injured / traumatized / displaced.

U.S. carried out air strike in Syria in the village of Al-Jineh hitting a mosque where 49 civilians were killed on 2017.03.17. At least 33 people were killed in another US-led strike on a school used as a centre for displaced people near a northern Syrian town on 2017.03.21.
The US war criminals who used Air Force AC-130U gunship attacking the Kunduz Trauma Centre operated by MSF in Afghanistan with at least 42 people killed and over 30 injured. MSF condemned the attack, saying all warring parties had been notified of the hospital's location ahead of time, and that the airstrike was deliberate, a breach of international humanitarian law and MSF is working on the presumption of a war crime....the list goes on and on for you to charge/jail war criminals in US,UK,France, etc. who attack/invade illegally, committing war crimes repeatedly...

The US/NATO illegal attacks/invasions (Iraq, Libya, etc.) are the worst war crimes in modern history.
These war criminals (Bush/Blair/Sarkozy/Cameron & the lot) are the real murderers with blood on their hands and they must be charged/jailed for life.

It is heartening to see Russia is going to meet Qatar foreign minister to discuss Syria on 2017.04.15 showing Russia sincerity to help to resolve it.

It is also heartening to see Iraq government trying to improve relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia to curb the feud involving Sunni/Shiite.
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Michael Public Apr 13, 2017

Worrying what to tell you your non-American friends is a nice problem to have. Most working class Americans are more concerned about where to find an American job for their American kids. I am not saying that the authors point of view is invalid, only that there is another point of view that from the perspective of those who voted Trump in, is just as valid.
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Curtis Carpenter Apr 12, 2017

I just ask my non-American friends to forgive us. Through every Republican president since Nixon, I've gotten a lot of practice at this.
- P. Kamath Apr 13, 2017
  
  Curtis: no need to be so despondent to apologise so profusely. Most newly elected US presidents, in the "higher interest " of nation, have befriended rulers of many nations. Some of these outside rulers were autocrats, military rulers, thugs etc. The high principles of democracy has been ditched at times! This is so from JFK to Clinton as far as I know and am familiar. Trump has brought new strains like nepotism by hiring young "advisers like Jared and Ivanka" and shown himself to be the least qualified president so far. But it too will pass. US still is on firm grounds. Sky is not falling! So cheer up!
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Steve Hurst Apr 12, 2017

US stewardship of the Earths commons... Is this a joke, look up the word 'pollution'
US leadership in open markets... Is this a joke , look up the Credit Crunch and US Banking's role

I could go on but it is pointless, its a case of eyes wide shut.

Joseph if you want to regard Trump as a narcissist you would do well to remember he is a reflection of US society by definition, and salami slicing the vote to try and justify your opinion makes no odds, he was elected

Incidentally I suggest you look up the prescription opioid epidemic (and related death rate) in the disparaged Rust Belt and similar US locations and bear in mind this is a direct result of both occupational health problems for throwaway workers and opportunistic drug peddling by US Pharma Corps following intense lobbying to US authorities

'I tell my friends not to expect normal behavior.' Really please define what US 'normal' behaviour is, I would be most interested
- Steve Hurst Apr 14, 2017
  
  Michael
  
  Fear not I have no idea what normal British behaviour is
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- Michael Public Apr 13, 2017
  
  I also squinted quite hard when I saw that statement.
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Marc Laventurier Apr 12, 2017

Prof. Nye might have made explicit that Trump's policies are a continuation of his populist campaign. The brains of his supporters, already soft as the ripest brie, need to be constantly nudged in just the right jingoistic places to keep their dreams of gainful employment from melting away. This is Trump's version of soft power - the tabloid presidency, on display as his fans wait in line to buy velveeta with the last of their food stamps.
- Steve Hurst Apr 12, 2017
  
  Marc
  
  Marc you are not alone. We have similar comic cut antics in the UK and downright lies about Brexit prior to the referendum. I voted Remain in the faint hope the EU would wake up to potential fallout and move to reform, little sign of that. We in the UK now entirely predictably have food prices rising sharply following Sterling dropping, very questionable long term export uplift issues and people talking about trade deals with remote locations which is directly against the 'trade - distance remote' graph which points to always trading nearby. Not to mention a stonking divorce bill
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- Marc Laventurier Apr 12, 2017
  
  Steve,
  In his article, Prof. Nye specified the scale and locality of the Trump 'victory', and I used a physical metaphor to suggest how Trump has to maintain the mindset of his mob through symbolic policy. The 'puppet show' quality of all this may not be fully obvious from the UK, and I may be especially sensitive to it as a northern Californian with french influences (who happens to enjoy pepper brie especially). Utterly tendentious alt-right yobs and decent americans alike are participating in this low demagoguery. For my part, I've never voted in an election, for obvious hygienic reasons, and the bacteria involved notwithstanding, I'm "sayin' cheese"...
  
  PS Trump just indicated that he favors a weak dollar (to promote the 12% or something like that of production that is exported). He is in a position to appoint several Fed members including the chair in about a year, and as I previously predicted in these pages, he will crush the dollar by packing the Fed with 'crooked doves'. Hedge your USD positions!
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- Steve Hurst Apr 12, 2017
  
  Marc
  
  You have just consigned 62,979,636 US citizens as having brie for brains, that quite a tonnage of brie. If you are right you should be worried, you could be a lonely guy surrounded by brie. Mind you, you are not alone, both Hilary and Barack made somewhat similar comments, I'm surprised it didnt encourage key Black, Hispanic and Womens groups to vote for Hilary. The Tweet President is following Obama's successful social media campaign, its a natural progression if unwelcome development
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vivek iyer Apr 12, 2017

Nye's foreign friends listen to him because his 'soft power' thesis had some prescriptive appeal and perhaps even explanatory power for a brief period. However, 'soft power' is only a good thing if the underlying play book is sensible. Obama said America's playbook was stupid. 'Stop doing stupid shit' was the final foreign policy doctrine of this superbly eloquent man.
America may want to believe that it provides global public goods. It doesn't. It provides excludable club goods. Do the Brits believe that America was generous to them in the Forties and Fifties. Nope. America extracted its pound of flesh and then pulled the rug from under Eden- though, no doubt, toppling Mossadegh.
Similarly, France felt no gratitude to America for reaping the benefits of 'exorbitant privilege'. One can multiply such instances.
Nye's foreign friends need to first find out whether America really has been a benign fairy godmother before worrying about Trump.
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