A new world order? Why there is method in Trump's ramblings - and the UK needs to work with him
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At his inauguration on 20 January Donald Trump will talk to his fellow Americans about his plans to Make America Great Again. He has already given the rest of the world their marching orders. At an impromptu news conference last week he spelt out his determination to put America first in his dealings abroad.
The president-elect refused to rule out using force or economic coercion to take control of Greenland and the Panama Canal. He warned NATO members that they must spend 5% of GDP on defence if they want to continue to shelter under the US security umbrella.
He called for the Gulf of Mexico to be renamed the Gulf of America. He has also slightingly referred to Canada as "the 51st state" and called its prime minister "governor". In a further provocation directed specifically at the UK, Sebastian Gorka, a senior advisor to Trump, told that The Times "any nation which wishes to be seen as a serious ally and friend of the most powerful nation in the world should act in a fashion that reflects that serious commitment" and that means bringing back around 70 Islamic State prisoners and their dependents to the UK, including Shamima Begum, who have been deprived of British citizenship.
Donald Trump's boasts of territorial expansion met a predictable response. French and German leaders asserted that "borders must not be removed by force". The French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot bemoaned a "return to the law of the strongest". Trump's ideas are certainly disruptive to the world order and have many downsides. They should not be taken as the ravings of a madman and a bully, however.
