Worth emphasising the scale of the disaster Trump has wrought in the week since his call with Erdogan. 1. Revived Isis. 2. Cemented Assad’s grip on Syria. 3. Handed Russia yet another geopolitical windfall. 4. Betrayed the Kurds. 5. Immeasurably harmed US power. Thread 1.
Of these, the last is the worst. I grew up in a world where, for all its faults, America was the last line of defence against barbarism. It took a long time to build that reputation, and it was often breached (Vietnam etc). It was nevertheless real. Trump is destroying it. 2.
The Kurds lost thousands of people defeating Isis. Trump has driven the Kurds into Russia's arms. The Russians mocked them (at the UN last week) for ever having trusted America, even while the US and Russia voted together against Europe to prevent a humanitarian pause. 3.
Other American friends will take note. The most pressing is Ukraine, where President Zelensky ten days ago cut a deal with Russia to hold elections in its east where Russia is fighting a proxy war. Hard to believe that would have happened if Kyiv retained any faith in the US. 4
But Trump's message will be heard globally; In east Asia, where China's neighbours are squeezed between a US they depend on militarily, and a China they rely on for growth. They cannot place trust in America: In Europe, where it seems to be Christmas every day for Putin: 5
And in the Middle East, where it is Russia that is seen as the rational external power. The Kurds are now under Russian "protection". I don't know whether it's too late to retrieve the benign image America had in most of the world. But the light is failing. 6
Such warnings will inevitably prompt lots of whatabboutery. Trump has set the standard for that ("we're not so innocent.." etc. "We've rigged other people's elections"). Whatabboutery is the last refuge of the cynic. It wants to write the epitaph of America's best self. Ends
