(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
Trump's election victory should have come as no surprise. The era of liberal hegemony is already over, and a correction is high time. The liberal hegemony is no longer liberal, and the hegemony is exhausted. Trump is often accused of being 'transactional', but a de-videologization of the US and a return to pragmatism is exactly what the country needs.
Change or preservation of the unsustainable status quo?
An overwhelming majority of Americans believe that the country is headed in the wrong direction, which placed Harris as sitting vice-president in an unfavorable position. She could not sufficiently distance herself from President Biden's policies, which meant she had to take responsibility for the failures of the past four years. The message of "turning the page" did not resonate, and she was left with the meaningless slogan "joy" – which only demonstrated her distance from the growing concerns of Americans.
Harris had to take responsibility for the failures of the last four years.
National borders have been wide open, media freedom is on the wane, government overreach is increasing, and American industry is no longer competitive. In addition, the national debt is out of control, social problems and cultural wars going from bad to worse, the political climate is increasingly divisive, the US military is overstretched. The global majority also rejects Washington's simplistic and dangerous heuristic of dividing the world into liberal democracy versus authoritarian regimes. And the US is complicit in a genocide in Palestine and risks a nuclear war with Russia.
Who would vote for four new years when the status quo means driving off the cliff? It is better to be in opposition and offer change. Being a populist with a bombastic appearance, seemingly immune to the consequences of breaking with social norms, is a good quality when you want to free yourself from decades of old ideological dogmas that limit necessary pragmatism.
Tariffs and re-industrialisation
"Make America Great Again" is probably a reference to 1973, when the US reached its peak, but has since gone into decline. Under it neoliberale consensus, society became an appendage to the market, and the politicians were unable to deliver the changes the population demanded. The political left side nor could redistribute wealth, and the political right could not defend traditional values and community.
Globalization created a political class that was loyal to international capital, without national loyalty, and responsibility towards the population disappeared. globalization is often opposed to democracy, and the distinction between illiberal democracy and undemocratic liberalism became increasingly apparent.
The distinction between illiberal democracy and undemocratic liberalism became increasingly clear.
An important lesson from the American system at the beginning of the 1800th century was that industrialization and subsequent economic sovereignty is a prerequisite for national sovereignty. Tariffs and temporary subsidies are important tools for newly established industries to develop maturity, and such 'fair trade' is therefore often preferable to free trade. Trump's tariffs to re-industrialize and promote technological sovereignty are noble ambitions that even the Biden administration tried to emulate. Trump's mistake, however, is to exaggerate customs duties and the economic war against China will disrupt supply chains—and to such an extent that it undermines the American economy. Trump's exorbitant tariffs and economic coercion are the result of his attempt to crack down China and restore America's global preeminence. If USA can accept a more modest role in the international system – rather as one of many great powers – he can advocate a more moderate economic nationalism that would have greater prospects of success.
Trump's Vice President JD Vance has correctly noted the US's self-destructive moralizing: "We have built up a foreign policy that consists of moralizing and teaching countries that want nothing to do with it. The Chinese have a foreign policy that involves building roads and bridges and feeding poor people." The time is now to let pragmatism prevail over ideology.
"We have built up a foreign policy that consists of moralizing and teaching countries that want nothing to do with it. The Chinese have a foreign policy that involves building roads and bridges and feeding poor people."
Trump's critics are right to point out the paradox of a billionaire claiming to represent the people against a detached globalized elite. Trump sits in flashy buildings with his name in large gold letters on the facade, yet has assumed the role of representative of the American workers by demanding re-industrialization. Growing up in the excesses and hedonism of the American cultural elite, Trump advocates preserving America's traditional Verdier and culture. Is Trump a savior? Hardly. But politics are more important than personalities, and Trump is kicking open a door that was seemingly closed by liberal ideology.
End the liberal crusades
Trump's call to end the perpetual wars resulted in invaluable support from former Democrats such as Tulsi Gabbard, Robert F. Kennedy and Elon Musk. The liberal crusades of the last three decades have fueled an unsustainable debt, they finance the deep state (the blob), they alienate the US in the world, and they give the other great powers incentives to collectively balance the US. The eternal ones the wars are costly mistakes that never end well, but the US could absorb those costs during the unipolar era in the absence of real adversaries. In a multipolar system, the US will have to scale back its military adventurism and learn to prioritize its foreign policy goals.
The eternal wars are costly mistakes that never end well.
It is not unreasonable to argue that preserving the empire in its current form could cost the United States the republic. Trump is not a fan of dismantling empire, but being the 'transactional pragmatist' that he is, he would like a better return on investment. He believes that allies should pay for protection, that regional agreements such as NAFTA and TPP, which transfer productive power to allies, should be rejected, and that adversaries should be engaged to the extent that it serves US national interests. Trump is condemned for being friends with dictators, but that is probably preferable to the so-called liberal diplomats who no longer believe in diplomatic negotiations, since it is feared that it 'legitimises' opponents.
Ukraine, Russia and China
Trump would like to put an end to the proxy war in Ukraine, for it is very costly in both blood and money, and the war is already lost. The liberal crusaders will never be able to define a victory against the world's largest nuclear power, which believes it is fighting for its survival. Washington's elites have repeatedly stated that it is a good war because it is Ukrainian soldiers who are dying, not American ones. But it is therefore difficult to make Trump morally ashamed when his main argument is that the killings must stop.
The liberal crusaders in Washington also often claim that the strategic goal of proxy warone was to knock Russia out of the ranks of the great powers, so that the US could focus its resources on containing China. Instead, the war has strengthened Russia and pushed the country further into the arms of China. A humanitarian disaster is unfolding, and the world is pushed to the brink of nuclear war. The economic coercion, including the theft of Russia's foreign sovereign wealth funds, has prompted the global majority to de-dollarize and develop alternative payment systems. Trump is hardly innocent, as he started the economic war against China. Without ideological constraints, however, there may be room for a course correction, as he noted that dollarone's 'armament' threatens the foundations of America's superpower status. Once again can here pragmatism victory over ideology.
But will Trump succeed? He certainly won't end the war in 24 hours. Trump has the tools he needs to influence Ukraine, as the US is funding the war and arming Ukraine. However, Trump's maximum pressure is unlikely to work against Russia, as the country considers this a war of survival and the political West has broken almost all agreements. And Trump withdrew from strategic arms control agreements and armed Ukraine, which helped trigger the war.
Russia will demand a halt to NATO expansion under the Istanbul agreement, as well as territorial concessions resulting from nearly three years of war. Trump has previously signaled that he is willing to offer an end to NATO expansionism, which could pave the way for a broader European security agreement. The conflicts between the West and Russia have their origins in the failure to establish a mutually acceptable solution after the Cold War. Instead, the West began expanding NATO, thus reviving the Cold War's zero-sum bloc policy, and since then there have been conflicts with Russia over where the new militarized dividing lines should be drawn.
But when it comes to Israel, there is an obvious exception to Trump's aversion to war. Trump, Vance, Musk, Gabbard and Kennedy are all reticent to come out hard against the genocide in Palestine – or even criticize Israel. Trump is likely to continue to give unconditional support to Israel and take a hostile stance towards Palestine, Lebanon, Yemen and Iran. Pragmatism and 'America First' will probably be lacking in this part of the world.
The liberal empire
Trump opponents have remarkable difficulty articulating the case for Trump as president. Even if they know why people voted for him, they will feel morally bound to refrain from articulating the reasons for fear of 'legitimizing' his policies with understanding. The inability to articulate an opponent's position is a good indication that one is exposed to propaganda. Have we been exposed to propaganda? There is a clear tendency for ideological fundamentalists to portray the world as a battle between good and evil, where mutual understanding and pragmatism are demonized as a betrayal of sacred values.
The inability to articulate an opponent's position is a good indication that one is exposed to propaganda.
The panic and confusion is also due to dishonesty Media. The media has had almost exclusively negative coverage of Trump, while Harris could do no wrong. Trump won not in spite of the bad media coverage, but because of it. A populist claims to be the real representative of the people, who will defend them against a detached and corrupt elite. The hostility towards Trump and his supporters was therefore worn as a badge of honour. The political-media elite used the judiciary against the political opposition in the election campaign, they impeached Trump twice and tried him as a private person – and they tried to remove Trump from the ballots in 16 states.
There is no benefit in trusting the media when they are not to be trusted. The Russia-gate scam from the 2016 election has been exposed as a fraud, and the Hunter Biden laptop story from the 2020 election was censored by the media under the pretense of being "Russian propaganda." During the 2024 election, the override was off Biden largely a non-theme. The undemocratic election of Harris was ignored and the media instead turned her into a rock star after ignoring her for her failures over the past four years. The first assassination attempt against Trump faded into oblivion with remarkable speed, while most people are hardly aware that a second assassination also took place. Desperate media stories, such as Trump threatening Liz Cheney with a firing squad, were so desperate and dishonest that they had the opposite effect. The liberal machinery, represented by an obedient media and Hollywood elite, ran out of steam.
The liberal machinery, represented by an obedient media and Hollywood elite, ran out of steam.
A panicked Europe
Europe is in a panic because it has lost its ally in the White House and thus fears for the future of the liberal world order. But the liberal world order is already gone, and an ideological Europe is suffering Stockholm syndrome. Biden is complicit in genocide in Palestine; he attacked Europe's critical energy infrastructure; enticed European industries to relocate to the United States under the Inflation Reduction Act; brought major war to Europe by provoking a proxy war in Ukraine and sabotaging the peace talks in Istanbul; he intensified censorship around the world and pressures Europeans to reduce economic ties with China. After striving for strategic autonomy for years, the Europeans have submitted and accepted that they are becoming less and less relevant in the world. The European political-media elite portrays Trump as the new Hitler, but is nevertheless in a great hurry to subordinate itself to the USA economically, militarily and politically. The Europeans are also concerned that a similar leadership crisis has occurred on their own continent. Political elites committed to liberal hegemony have neglected national interests and will be swept away in the years to come.
The system has failed
Trump's second term as president will not be like the first. Trump's first term as president was limited by Democrats largely contesting the 2016 election results by branding him an illegitimate leader who had been placed in the White House by the Kremlin. The Russia-gate scam has since been exposed as fabricated, and Trump even won the election by 5 million votes, giving him a powerful mandate to carry out his agenda. Furthermore, the first Trump administration was infiltrated by neoconservatives, as he was dismissed as too radical. Over the past eight years, a powerful MAGA ('Make America Great Again') movement has emerged, which is also made up of former Democrats.
Trump is a joker and the world is changing tremendously.
One must be careful about looking into the crystal ball and making predictions, and this applies especially to Trump. Philosophy professor Richard Rorty predicted in 1998 that the excesses of liberalism and globalization would eventually be met with a violent correction:
“Union members and unorganized and unskilled workers will sooner or later realize that their governments are not even trying to prevent wages from falling, or jobs from being exported. At about the same time, they will realize that the civil servants in the suburbs – who are themselves desperately afraid of being downsized – are not going to allow themselves to be taxed to provide social benefits for others. At that point, something will crack. The voters outside the suburbs will decide that the system has failed, and start looking around for a strong man to vote for—one willing to assure them that once elected, the self-righteous bureaucrats, scheming lawyers, the overpaid bond salesmen and postmodernist professors no longer decide... Once the strongman is in office, no one can predict what will happen" (1998, Achieving Our Country: Leftist Thought in Twentieth-Century America, Harvard University Press).
Trump has identified many of the problems plaguing the United States and the world, even though he may not have the answers. He's going to make a lot of mistakes, and his maximum pressure approach from business isn't always transferable to international politics. After decades of criminalizing opposition to the liberal hegemony, it should have come as no surprise that 'a strong man' would be chosen to put sticks in their wheels. Trump is a joker and the world is changing enormously, to quote Rorty: "No one can predict what will happen."
Translated from English by the editor. Diesen works as a professor at the University of Southeast Norway (USN), Department of Economics, History and Social Sciences.
