The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

US election and Russia – Russia is again actively participating in the spread of disinformation in an attempt to get Trump re-elected. Why would a dictator like Putin want Trump back in? There are a number of reasons why most dictators in the world want Trump to win this, including Xi in China. The reasons are in descending order of importance: 1) Isolationism. Trump thinks the USA is better off on its own. He has already removed the USA from the World Health Organisation and stopped funding them. WHO do immensely important work throughout the world, not just with this pandemic, but in a host of other ways. They provide food, clean water and vaccines to the poorest areas of the world. They combat other pandemics such as Ebola. Like a child Trump threw his toys out of the pram and left WHO to deflect criticism for his non-existent response to COVID which has left eight million Americans infected and a quarter of a million dead.

Trump does not like other world organisations such as NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) which was formed in 1949 by 30 countries of Europe and North America. Its role is to provide strength in numbers and to maintain peace. I suspect if Trump is re-elected he will remove the USA from NATO.

So what advantage is this to China and Russia? We now enter the sphere of international politics. Xi and Putin are in power for life . They don’t think in election cycles of four or five years. They think 20 to 50 years ahead. If Trump pulls the USA off the international stage it leaves a huge power vacuum which China and Russia will rush into.

The reason why Russia actively interfered with the Brexit vote and the removal of the UK from Europe. It’s very much in their interest to have a weakened fractured Europe as well as a weakened USA. You could argue the exact opposite is true ref Trump’s slogan “Make America Great Again”. He certainly is making the USA weaker on the world’s stage.

2) The other bonus for Russia and China is Trump is not a student of politics. He shoots from the hip. He rarely engages what brain he has before speaking. He is a lying machine. If you interact with people from other countries he is regarded almost as a cartoon parody. Every utterance such as drink bleach and insert UV lights into your body are reported throughout the world to its amazement and amusement. It’s important for Russia and China to have the former most powerful nation on earth run by a buffoon.

This election coming up is the most important US election of our lifetime and its outcome will affect the long term future of every person on the planet.

THE REALIST

Nassau,

October 22, 2020.