IT would seem the West is about to experience a turn for the worse in its relations with the developing world.
America just elected into office a man who, during the campaign trail, made many repugnant statements against everyone who is not like him — a rich white man.
The very first time Donald Trump appeared in the pages of the New York Times, back in the 1970s, was when the US Department of Justice sued him for racial discrimination.
Since then, he has repeatedly appeared in newspaper pages across the world as he inspired more similar controversies.
Trump’s offensive and disgusting sentiments about minority Americans — from his claim that Mexican immigrants are criminals to his proposal to ban Muslims from the US — should have sent him packing from the presidential race.
In the 1970s, Federal officials found evidence that Trump had refused to rent out to black tenants and lied to black applicants about whether apartments were available in his buildings, among other accusations.
His casino operations and business dealings since the 1980s have also exposed his discriminatory and racist tendencies.
Former managers and employees revealed that Trump transferred blacks and women dealers off tables to accommodate a big-time gambler’s prejudices.
He attacked a black accountant saying: “Black guys counting my money! I hate it. The only kind of people I want counting my money are short guys that wear yarmulkes every day… I think that the guy is lazy. And it’s probably not his fault, because laziness is a trait in blacks. It really is, I believe that. It’s not anything they can control.”
He took out advertising space to discredit an Indian tribe, which was a financial threat to one of his casinos.
He led a campaign against President Barack Obama, inferring that due to him being black he could not have the requisite intelligence to have been admitted into Columbia or Harvard Law School, and demanded Obama release his university transcripts.
The sad fact is, Trump’s actions and comments present a clear pattern — one which shows that bigotry is part of his personality, character and career.
Moving on to France, the country has a presidential election next year and the race is between far-right Marion Le Pen, Republican Francois Fillon and former Prime Minister Manuel Valls.
A new poll has predicted that Fillon will win the first round of voting with 32 percent against 22 percent for Le Pen and eight percent for incumbent President Francois Hollande – who is yet to announce whether he will run for re-election or current Prime Minister Manuel Valls.
Fillion shocked France when he won his party’s primary election against his former boss, former President Nicolas Sarkozy, as well as Alain Juppé, another former premier.
Fillon’s 15-point victory margin was a surprise. Compared to Sarkozy and Juppé, both of whom enjoyed widespread media attention, Fillon (62) was seen as a little-known conservative — so little known, in fact, he was dubbed ‘Mr Nobody’ by Le Monde.
The funny thing about Fillon is, he is a moderate version of Trump. Analysts indicate that for over three decades, Fillion has played second fiddle to many a shining politician in France. Most notable was the manner in which Sarkozy, who appointed him as Prime Minister in 2007, spent the next five years treating Fillon as an underling.
Politically, Fillon has been described as a ‘Gaelic Thatcher’, a conservative with a capital ‘C’ and Catholic with a small ‘c’. While promoting his book, Conquering Islamic Totalitarianism, Fillon told Le Figaro he supports the existing ban on religious symbols in public spaces and that while he does not believe there is a religious problem in France, ‘there is a problem with Islam’.
Internationally, Fillon is a proponent of rapprochement with Russia, whose fraught relations with Europe he attributes to ‘huge errors’ made by the Western powers after the fall of the Soviet Union.
He also has not ruled out working with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, arguing that France should consider all partners to fight the Islamic State. This position is likely to endear him not only to Moscow and Assad, but also to Trump, who holds a similar view of how to fight ISIS.
My greatest concern with the man is that, he has described French colonialism as a form of cultural exchange. He claims that the French school curriculum teaches French children to be ashamed of France’s colonial past and he intends to change this; as if a history of plundering and looting the African continent is something to be proud of.
In Austria, voters elect a new president after their first attempt was annulled. In a race currently too close to call, Norbert Hofer, of the anti-immigration Freedom Party, could become the first freely elected far-right head of state in Western Europe since the Second World War.
The Netherlands goes to the polls on March 15 2016. Geert Wilders and his Eurosceptic, anti-Islam Freedom Party is tied in the polls with the Prime Minister, Mark Rutte’s liberal VVD.
Over the next 12 months, EU member-states face a dozen referendums and parliamentary and presidential elections, many contested by populist, Eurosceptic parties whose members believe that what happened in the UK and the US can now happen in Europe.
The angry, anti-establishment, nation-first tide that voted to sweep the UK out of the EU, and Trump into the White House, is blowing across Europe and its political landscape is certainly changing.
What does all this mean for the developing world, especially Africa?
Now might be the time for African states to strengthen the African Union and ensure the continent’s agenda is not side-tracked or manipulated to the detriment of Africans.