"The ability of any US president to fundamentally change or control the behaviour of other major powers is frequently overestimated. Yet by posing as a sort of uncrowned global monarch and grand arbiter of war and peace, Trump perpetuates fantasies of US hegemony, omnipotence and divine right. Intoxicated by such ego-inflating delusions, he pledged before taking office to swiftly end the Ukraine and Gaza conflicts. Perhaps, in his vanity and hubris, he truly believed he could."
"Eight months on, the exact opposite is happening. Both crises are expanding and escalating. The bubble has burst, his bluff has been called, the emperor has no clothes and there is no denying that Trump, by alternately appeasing, excusing and encouraging the two foremost villains of these twin tragedies, is greatly to blame. Last week's multiple Russian drone incursions into Nato member Poland which Polish officials are right to call deliberate risk transforming the Ukraine war into a Europe-wide conflagration."
Trump projects a performative, uncrowned-monarch persona while frequently lacking the power or will to control other major powers. He pledged to end the Ukraine and Gaza conflicts but instead both crises have expanded and escalated. Alternately appeasing, excusing and encouraging key antagonists has made him largely to blame for worsening outcomes. Russian drone incursions into Poland risk transforming the Ukraine war into a Europe-wide conflagration. A reckless Israeli airstrike in Qatar destroyed prospects for a Gaza peace process and heightened regional tensions. A common factor in both developments is US weakness and Trump's inability to be decisive against determined adversaries.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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