BY THE TIME this article comes out, Joe Biden would have been sworn in as President of the United States, and Donald Trump is out of office.
There is the feeling, both in the US as well as in other parts of the world, that things can now go back to “normal”, and by normal they mean a return to globalization, a return to the dream of “uniting” the world.
But that’s not going to happen, I think.
Firstly, Biden’s presidency is supported by the American bureaucracy. He has no popular support. Everything about the man is manufactured and so, unlike Trump whose administration was driven by his personality and public sentiment, Biden’s administration will be more technocratic.
Secondly, America has eroded a lot of its soft power trying to get rid of Trump. Over 70 million of its own people think that the system cheated their champion out of power, and the American systems bias against them will only fuel their anger.
Further, the fact that social media companies deleted the accounts of their sitting President will only further undermine American dominance of the internet. Even now, various foreign governments, including their neighbor, Mexico, are moving against American social media giants.
And finally, there is the world itself. The American century is coming to an end. European countries are weakening. Populist governments will continue to rise.
China will continue to challenge the world order. Russia, Iran and Syria will defy US interests in the Middle East, and as this is happening the US will be at war with a significant portion of its own people.
If American elites think they can go back to 2015 because they got rid of Trump and are now suppressing his supporters, they are delusional.
Trump attempted to reform the system by shifting from a globalist system to one that is slightly more nationalistic. By kicking him out, the American system shows that it is clinging to the past – a past that it sustains through institutional power.
But all power runs out eventually, and when it does, the American elites will find themselves in an unfamiliar world./PN
