IT is no secret that US President Donald Trump styles himself as some sort of political rebel who wants to be seen as having made a change from the traditional practices of his predecessors at the White House.
The US is almost 240 years old, having been ‘born’ on July 4 1776 when 13 colonies signed the Declaration of Independence.
About a decade later, the states signed and ratified the US Constitution.
The mainstay of the US Constitution has always been its preamble, which even the smallest child is taught at an early age.
The preamble embodies the dreams of the founding fathers and today, we are told even though the document was crafted by white, well-educated and rich men (who owned slaves), it was intended for every American.
The preamble reads: “We the people of the US, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
Unfortunately, under this new administration, ‘we the people’ is gravitating towards meaning the rich and white (the educated part is highly debatable).
Last month, the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations held hearings on ‘The Road Ahead: US Interests, Values and the American People’, where committee chairperson, Senator Bob Corker, stressed the need for the legislature to assist the executive in defining American interests and values.
Senator Corker said: ‘We must have a national conversation about what constitutes core US interests and as policymakers, we have to do a better job of squaring those interests — and the policies we pursue to achieve them — with the will of the folks who sent us here in the first place’.
He identified four broad challenges facing the US internationally:
l the ‘crisis of credibility…when it comes to the world’s view of the United States’;
l the ‘serious problem with prioritisation’ and the need to ‘simplify and re-center our attention on the things that really matter’;
l US global engagement that is ‘disconnected from the beliefs and desires of the American people’; and
l ‘the top threat to our national security’ – ‘the long-term debt situation we have irresponsibly created’.
As part of the hearings, the Senate Committee heard from former Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright and from former National Security advisor Stephen J. Hadley.
The two highlighted the need for a national debate about how and why the US engages in the world.
Special attention has to be paid to the fact that over the past 70 years, Democratic and Republican administrations alike have understood that American security and prosperity at home are linked to economic and political health abroad, and that the US does better when other countries have the incentive and the capacity to work alongside it in tackling global challenges.
This is why it constructed a system of international institutions and security alliances after the Second World War.
What the wise and experienced bureaucrats in Washington know and understand is that isolationism and retreat do not work.
Worse still, if the US abrogates its role on the global stage, ‘people in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle-East will increasingly look elsewhere for inspiration and guidance’.
Russia and China participation and outlook on the global stage would become greater, as they would fill in the void left by the US.
The US’ leadership role has come at great expense to the American people, their tax dollars and children have been sacrificed abroad, and for them to wake up one day and be told it was all for nothing could create a storm.
The narrative in the media is already against President Trump, his first months in office included the ban on Muslim travellers, attacking the media fraternity, unconstitutional and controversial appointments.
Lest we forget the American dream is all about the opportunity for prosperity and success, and an upward social mobility for the family and children, achieved through hard work in a society with few barriers.