DONALD’S NOBEL DREAM ‘DYNAMITED’

DONALD’S NOBEL DREAM ‘DYNAMITED’

Finally the suspense is over! President Trump’s aggressive campaign to become the fifth President of USA and the second Republican Nobel Peace laureate has come to a ‘screaming’ halt……accusing the Nobel Committee of playing ‘politics over peace’. Trump’s ‘tehelka macha doonga’ threats couldn’t have been responded with greater bluntness by the Nobel Committee….so be it, ‘Macha do’…….Maria Corina Machado; the  Venezuelan opposition leader and human rights advocate, for promoting democratic rights in Venezuela. Interestingly, the media is more abuzz about Trump being denied, rather than Machado being awarded.

No single person in history is officially recognized as the first to so intensely crave for the Nobel Peace Prize, but, even if there was one, Trump would give him a run for his money! The fact that he was in office merely for 11 days during the qualifying period doesn’t dilute the fact that it is perhaps the greatest example on how not to win the coveted prize. Hopefully, some day Trump will learn that peace is a quiet, demanding process, not a booming media blitz.

Alfred Nobel’s will states that, the peace prize should go ‘to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between the nations and the abolition or reduction of standing armies and the formation and spreading of peace congresses.’  On the surface, these markers do not exactly align with Trump’s record of ‘unilateralism, antagonism, and domestic militantism.’

At the last count, Trump has claimed the Gaza truce as his eighth jewel in the crown, and if Afghanistan-Pakistan don’t call ceasefire soon, there lies yet another opportunity for Trump. One can never rule out the servile twins ‘Sha-Mun’ stage managing to give the ninth trophy to him on a platter!  If claiming the mediation honours in the sub continent by Trump was not delusional enough, Sharif’s over the top citation for his master of, ‘saving the lives of over two million people’ is yet another classic attempt at nuclear con by a country suffering from a Napoleon complex! It is quite another story that his nomination was submitted after the 31st January deadline, and therefore ineligible for this year’s prize.

Norwegian sociologist Johan Galtung has rightly stated that peace which suggests the absence of war is only negative peace. Positive peace involves addressing underlying causes of conflict, building positive relationships, and fostering a sense of harmony within and between societies.  Trump is more a limelight hog and unique in the sense that he strives to ‘bring peace by threatening peace’….his blatant vindictive bullying for not acceding to his egoistic and narcissist craving is par for the course! The President has perhaps unknowingly bagged another tiara for himself, unseating Lyndon B. Johnson on the scale measuring grandiose narcissism.

The track record of Trump clearly conflicts with genuine peace and the values and criteria of the peace prize. His concise CV reads, ‘withdrawal of USA from the WHO, UNESCO and the Paris Accord on climate. He has initiated a trade war on friends and allies and deported immigrants handcuffed and chained. He wants to purchase Greenland from Denmark, take back the Panama Canal from Panama, has renamed the Gulf of Mexico as Gulf of America and wants to annex Canada as the 51^st state of USA. He is eyeing the St. Martin Island in Bangladesh and wants the Bagram air base ‘returned’ by Afghanistan. And recently, rather controversially he has militarized the US homeland and, also threatened to remove 2026 World Games from the ‘unsafe’ Boston. He bombed Syria in 2017 and Iran lately, has authorized attacks on vessels in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean and turned a blind eye to every aggression by his closest ally Israel. Ironically enough, for a person who claims his ‘highest aspiration is to bring peace and stability in the world’, a national protest is underway in his own country to reject his  authoritarianism and defend democracy. Besides, till date, his government faces an unprecedented second longest shutdown due to the federal funding lapse, with no end in sight….…the first one also during his first tenure as President!

It may not be wrong to assume that Trump’s lobbying fundamentally contradicts core assumptions on how laureates should behave…. about being ‘a dignified representative of the prize.’ The Chairman of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee’s  comment to a question why Trump was not nominated was simple, ‘we base our decision on the work and the will of Alfred Nobel.’ The Nobel Committee needs to be complimented ‘for dashing Trump’s hopes by common sense.’

The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war is where Trump is really challenged. Arm twisting doesn’t work with Putin. His only consistency in dealing with the four year old war is inconsistency. After dramatically ‘flipping the Biden policy, Trump now seems to be flopping his own flip.’ But, if Trump does succeed, he would be a serious contender for the prize he is so desperate to clutch. However, the danger is, ‘a Trump who has secured his Nobel Peace Prize might thereafter feel tempted to go after the ego gratification that comes with military conquest.’ And then, maybe, we could witness a more virulent MAGA 2.0 in motion!

The Nobel nomination reveals the ‘strings attached’ nature of contemporary diplomacy. Trump has clearly ‘transformed foreign policy from a tool of global leadership to an instrument of personal validation.’ For India, it represents a complex diplomatic challenge, on how to maintain strategic partnership while refusing to validate over stated claims of Trump.

The American writer and political analyst, Eldridge Cleaver had argued that, ‘there is no calamity which a great nation can invite which equals that which follows a supine submission to wrong and injustice and the consequent loss of national self respect and honour.’ India has thus far done well to stand up to its convictions. The tariffs and H-1B shakeup may have dealt a harsh blow, but they are far from fatal. All the same, Trump is not done with India yet….his ego appears badly bruised! However, this also does not imply that every internal episode in India be attributed to the US deep state….we may well be missing the woods for the trees!

Navigating the ‘zero-sum mindset’ is not about mirroring it, but about using it as a lesson to strengthen  one’s position on the world stage. The lesson is prioritised strategic autonomy, economic diversification, accelerating domestic economic reforms and a consistent, national-interest-driven approach. This stratagem will strengthen India’s status as a reliable and independent partner on the global stage. The current turbulence must also serve as a powerful reinforcement of India’s goal of self-reliance. It is particularly important in defense technology, which may have serious security implications.  ‘Make in India’ is no longer an aspiration; it is an urgent economic necessity in the changing nature of transactional global politics.

Richard Nixon is widely known as the first US President to adopt the ‘madman theory’, characterized by irrational and unpredictable foreign policy.  Trump apparently embraces the same strategy!  It may sound contentious, but issue based ‘narcissist supply’, without compromising national interests may do no harm.   Sometimes traditional wisdom could also prove beneficial……kuch sabr karke, kuch bardasht karke aur bahut kuch nazar andaz karke!

(Major General Rajiv Edwards, VSM** (retd) is a historical researcher and commentator on societal issues.  He is apolitical. Views expressed are personal)