As US president, Donald Trump is commander-in-chief of the US armed forces, and able to use their lethal force to launch attacks on foreign shores, and even wars. Yet, he doesn't represent the United States of America in its entirety. It is possible to argue that Trump misrepresents the US, that he is a misrepresentative for his nation.
Distinguishing between a transient leader and the nation itself has one strong implication. India has good reasons to maintain good relations with the US as a long-term, institutional partner in multiple endeavours, including countervailing China in the Indo-Pacific, but no reason to accommodate or defer to Misrepresentative Trump's misadventures and irrational expectations.
In other words, India has the latitude to condemn Trump's attack on Venezuela and Iran, and torpedoing of an Iranian ship in the Indian Ocean, because it had accepted India's invitation to take part in a naval exercise, and to ask Trump to cease and desist from his attack on the world economy. When Trump presumes to give New Delhi 'permission' to import oil from Russia, India can, and should, tell him where he gets off.
This is not a terribly novel proposition. In fact, countries follow this principle in their conduct of international relations. Take Iran's lenient attitude towards India's request to let India-bound ships pass through the Strait of Hormuz without harm. Iran does this because it makes a distinction between the current Indian regime and India as a nation with which Iran has had friendly and mutually respectful relations.
India's current leadership did not condemn the US' unprovoked breach of Iran's sovereignty, assassination of its ayatollah, and bombing of its cities without any legal sanction. The UN exists to authorise collective international action against violators of rules of mutual coexistence that nations sign up to as members. Even as India had not condemned the US-Israeli attack on Iran, it condemned Iranian defensive fire.
Also Read | Trump locks horns with NATO over Iran, says US ‘does not need’ allies to secure Strait of Hormuz
India holds the BRICS chair this year. The grouping includes Iran as well, since Jan 1, 2024. BRICS' mission is to bring the largest emerging economies together to advance their collective interests, particularly to reform the global architecture of economic, political and financial power. That mission acquires ever-greater salience with the emergence of Misrepresentative Trump at the helm of the US, wrecking the global rules-based order, imperfect as it was, and ready to use military might against anyone with cavalier disregard for norms of any kind.
BRICS has ceased to operate, with India taking no effort to push back against Trump's tariff tantrums, and his threat to punish BRICS if it tried to weaken the US dollar's hegemony. This is the time for India to lead BRICS to redouble the effort to launch a new global currency to settle international financial transactions that do not involve an American entity as a counterparty. Ideally, this currency should be on blockchain, like e-rupee and digital yuan, to facilitate instantaneous cross-border payments.
During the Iran bombing, Trump said he would drop a few more bombs on Iran, just for fun. He has no clear war aims. He disdained his allies in the early days of the attack on Iran, told Keir Starmer that the US had already won the war and had no need for British aircraft carriers. Now, he threatens allies, with grave damage to Nato, if the same scorned allies did not come to join the war, about starting which he did not consult them.
Also Read |US counterterror chief Joe Kent resigns over Trump’s Iran war, says he 'cannot in good conscience' support it
The war will end, sooner or later. If the US or Israel does not send in troops to finish off the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran will decide when to stop firing missiles and drones, and thus end the war. When that happens, the only gainer, of sorts, would be Israel, which would emerge as the region's hegemon.
Dubai is no longer the global billionaire's beckoning playground, a financial centre rivalling Singapore. It's now a place of high geopolitical risk. Saudi Arabia's modernisation ambitions have been hit. Qatar will have second thoughts about hosting a US base. All Gulf Arab regimes are under pressure from their public opinion to stop pretending they are little chicks nestling under the protective wing of Mama US.
Republicans have lost their reputation at home for being the party to be trusted with the economy. Rise of gold as a safe haven signals erosion of faith in the US dollar as a safe haven for global wealth. In terms of its hegemonic role in global finance, the dollar is now in terminal decline.
A setback for Trump's side in the November midterm elections to the US House and Senate seems inevitable.
Even prior to Trump 2.0, US science and tech had given up the lead to China in many strategic areas. That trend has accelerated with Trump's attacks on US academia, and cuts in grants for scientific research.
In the 1960s, when India was not just far weaker than now vis-a-vis the US, but also was dependent on it for scarce forex needs, New Delhi had the gumption to criticise Washington over Vietnam and other imperialist ventures.
Trump and his MAGA base see him as god's gift to America and the world. New Delhi should stop acting as if it belonged to these Deplorables.
Distinguishing between a transient leader and the nation itself has one strong implication. India has good reasons to maintain good relations with the US as a long-term, institutional partner in multiple endeavours, including countervailing China in the Indo-Pacific, but no reason to accommodate or defer to Misrepresentative Trump's misadventures and irrational expectations.
In other words, India has the latitude to condemn Trump's attack on Venezuela and Iran, and torpedoing of an Iranian ship in the Indian Ocean, because it had accepted India's invitation to take part in a naval exercise, and to ask Trump to cease and desist from his attack on the world economy. When Trump presumes to give New Delhi 'permission' to import oil from Russia, India can, and should, tell him where he gets off.
This is not a terribly novel proposition. In fact, countries follow this principle in their conduct of international relations. Take Iran's lenient attitude towards India's request to let India-bound ships pass through the Strait of Hormuz without harm. Iran does this because it makes a distinction between the current Indian regime and India as a nation with which Iran has had friendly and mutually respectful relations.
India's current leadership did not condemn the US' unprovoked breach of Iran's sovereignty, assassination of its ayatollah, and bombing of its cities without any legal sanction. The UN exists to authorise collective international action against violators of rules of mutual coexistence that nations sign up to as members. Even as India had not condemned the US-Israeli attack on Iran, it condemned Iranian defensive fire.
Also Read | Trump locks horns with NATO over Iran, says US ‘does not need’ allies to secure Strait of Hormuz
India holds the BRICS chair this year. The grouping includes Iran as well, since Jan 1, 2024. BRICS' mission is to bring the largest emerging economies together to advance their collective interests, particularly to reform the global architecture of economic, political and financial power. That mission acquires ever-greater salience with the emergence of Misrepresentative Trump at the helm of the US, wrecking the global rules-based order, imperfect as it was, and ready to use military might against anyone with cavalier disregard for norms of any kind.
BRICS has ceased to operate, with India taking no effort to push back against Trump's tariff tantrums, and his threat to punish BRICS if it tried to weaken the US dollar's hegemony. This is the time for India to lead BRICS to redouble the effort to launch a new global currency to settle international financial transactions that do not involve an American entity as a counterparty. Ideally, this currency should be on blockchain, like e-rupee and digital yuan, to facilitate instantaneous cross-border payments.
During the Iran bombing, Trump said he would drop a few more bombs on Iran, just for fun. He has no clear war aims. He disdained his allies in the early days of the attack on Iran, told Keir Starmer that the US had already won the war and had no need for British aircraft carriers. Now, he threatens allies, with grave damage to Nato, if the same scorned allies did not come to join the war, about starting which he did not consult them.
Also Read |US counterterror chief Joe Kent resigns over Trump’s Iran war, says he 'cannot in good conscience' support it
The war will end, sooner or later. If the US or Israel does not send in troops to finish off the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran will decide when to stop firing missiles and drones, and thus end the war. When that happens, the only gainer, of sorts, would be Israel, which would emerge as the region's hegemon.
Dubai is no longer the global billionaire's beckoning playground, a financial centre rivalling Singapore. It's now a place of high geopolitical risk. Saudi Arabia's modernisation ambitions have been hit. Qatar will have second thoughts about hosting a US base. All Gulf Arab regimes are under pressure from their public opinion to stop pretending they are little chicks nestling under the protective wing of Mama US.
Republicans have lost their reputation at home for being the party to be trusted with the economy. Rise of gold as a safe haven signals erosion of faith in the US dollar as a safe haven for global wealth. In terms of its hegemonic role in global finance, the dollar is now in terminal decline.
A setback for Trump's side in the November midterm elections to the US House and Senate seems inevitable.
Even prior to Trump 2.0, US science and tech had given up the lead to China in many strategic areas. That trend has accelerated with Trump's attacks on US academia, and cuts in grants for scientific research.
In the 1960s, when India was not just far weaker than now vis-a-vis the US, but also was dependent on it for scarce forex needs, New Delhi had the gumption to criticise Washington over Vietnam and other imperialist ventures.
Trump and his MAGA base see him as god's gift to America and the world. New Delhi should stop acting as if it belonged to these Deplorables.
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of www.economictimes.com.)
T K Arun
The author was formerly an editor at the Economic Times