Signs of Peril?

On the morning of November 9th, 2016, the world woke-up to yet another uncontrolled and unusual incident. In less than a year the global establishment seemed to have lost control over its tight agenda for the second time in a row. Donald Trump, the long standing underdog of the upcoming US elections managed to surprise everyone by de-throning Hilary Clinton and by dismantling the Democrats and along with them all elements of design toward more globalisation. The systemic "check and balances" mechanism seems to have failed once more in the prevention and interception of the inevitable. And while US Americans -in an act of free expression of will- chose their leader for the next four years, Europe and the rest of the world stood-by in shock for what just happened incapable of coming to terms with this new reality. First it was the BREXIT and now this new unexpected political figure, who really isn't one in conventional terms speaking. But what does his election really mean for the world? No one really knows the answer but many already rushed to conclude that this was the worst possible outcome. And maybe it is, but who are we really to say? His presidency has not been yet tested, but what we have already seen is that his vision of the world is not following the same lenses that his predecessors in office used to look through when glancing at the rest of the world.

I strongly believe that what we see happening all around the world is the evolution of Democracy by means of the strengthening of the so called "vote of protest", which is sending "Governments of Protest" to assume power in individual countries. And this is the time for reflection, as it probably means that too much has gone too wrong in the last few decades in terms of politics. First it was one part of Europe, that developed a certain level of arrogance toward financially weaker members of it, then it was the loud message of the British people, who essentially followed the voices of discontent of the smaller European countries, but altogether a wave of discomfort was in its rise, long before the refuge crisis and later-on the US election results. And it is yet again the People who reclaim their birth right for freedom and democracy that is aiming at correcting the derailment of mankind, however, in a very odd fashion. Because voices of protest are usually trapped within the confines of a limited number of alternatives and are often only ending-up substituting one evil with another in their attempt to fix things. And I believe that the same thing is happening this time around. Cleary, the choice of Donald Trump supports this view, as I believe that no one can really agree that he is the gifted leader that everyone is wishing for his own country. He comes across more as the "Cowboy" who managed to successfully challenge the establishment and now needs to make a stance by simply erasing all kinds of politics of the past and merely engage in opposite agendas. We Greeks, should have a good understanding what this will bring to the US as a country, as we have seen it too many times before in our own garden. Governing opposition only for the sake of opposition is like a retracting force that leads to inaction. And while he does stand a fair change of maybe fixing the US economy he appears to be a dangerous figure with respect to US foreign affairs.

On top of that, it seems that his cabinet, just like his campaigning team is formed of people with extreme views on a number of issues and this kind of mix does not necessarily convey comfort to the rest of the world. In terms of the impact that his election had on the Greek affairs, next to rendering the visit of the soon departing President Barack Obama, who demonstrated his unique talent of mesmerising the masses, -foreign or domestic- cosmetic, the first bitter taste has already crossed the Atlantic in the form of verbal statements made by Michael Flynn, the appointed National Security Advisor of the Trump Administration, who claimed that the US should align its Regional policy around the interests of Turkey. Not that the European agenda in itself isn't troubled enough these days, with Italy holding its own referendum on December 5, 2016, with regard to its own future within Europe, then the EU-Turkey agreement on the refugee crisis, which is on the verge of collapse, with Berlin becoming the ever-growing centre of detest for the rest of Europe, and with Mr. Erdogan developing his own new rhetoric on International Treaties, which he meanwhile tends to reject, the election in the US has added a touch of unpredictability to the recipe, which calls for more concern that it does comfort. No one likes change, especially, if change is involuntary. The smart players of the game have already rushed to congratulate Mr. Trump on his victory and possibly in profiling him, as we essentially have no clue about who he is as a person other than the rumour of his business successes. But just like in a card game a new deck of cards symbolises the reshuffling of chance, maybe by analogy a new world leader symbolises the beginning of a new world with more democracy for all and less inequalities for all. Though we all know that the first hurdle to surpass will be the hurdle of consistency between pre- and post-election promises.