Professional Documents
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and the minorities. Trump promised them to return their US to them and it resonated
widely.
The last 24 years have seen the Democrats keep control of the country for two-thirds of
the time. The George W Bush era in between was wasted away by the Republicans in
initiating and fighting unnecessary wars. Any correction to how society was shaping was
lost to the neo-cons urge to conquer the world instead. So, the white mainstream
remained unattended and gradually disenfranchised even during the Republican years.
The sense of the white majority of being outpaced thus had entrenched, finally erupting
into an expressive frustration.
It is interesting that despite how Trump was framed during the campaign by the
mainstream media and denigrated for lack of stability in his thought and person, and
closeted in the corner of the white, rural American only, he was rewarded for his fortitude
in the face of such diminutiveness by an exemplary turn-out by those who supported him
in the belief that he will win back their US for them. If that tells you what is likely to
happen within the US, you are right to being highly circumspect of your own future if
you did not belong in that class. Remember, Trump promised to keep the Mexicans and
the Muslims out even if it meant building walls.
What would have been Barack Obamas legacy too is under threat. Obama had four
major policy areas of attention and initiation that he hoped will become his lasting
memory. Every American president will have international peace and security as his top
concern. Obama had to deal with the flashpoints of his era. He may not have wanted to,
and that got exhibited in how he engaged with the issues of Iraq and Syria cautious,
careful and defensive but he had to fight the wars that had been initiated by his
predecessor.
The reluctance was obvious, and he did not make significant gains in bringing those to an
early closure. Trump, for sure, will aim to bring the foreign diversions to an end. For this
his focus will be on doubling the effort in Syria and Iraq to achieve the aim. So yes,
greater intensity, more bloodshed and greater US involvement than what has let these
wars fester for so long. It just might work well for world peace.
International trade accompanies international peace; that is why peace is sought. Obama
used trade to forge alliances in pursuit of geopolitical interests. The Trans Pacific Trade
Agreement during his time was meant to broaden and reinforce a security alliance against
China. Otherwise, he mostly stuck to what had already been signed, like Nafta. Most of
Obamas time went in tending to wars while recovering from a debilitating economic
recession. He could not forge major initiatives on the economic front. Yet his single most
achievement was recovering a recessed economy in 2008 and moving it forward.
Bedevilled by such existential challenges, he rarely had the time or the opportunity to
bring rapid improvements to the lives of the people across the board.