JUSTICIA on The Southerner Newspaper 

Sunday, October 26, 2025

Since the second election of President Donald Trump in November 2024, the global order has taken a dramatic tumble unseen since the late 30’s, which saw the rise of Hitler, fascism, and the outbreak of World 11.

The war ended 80 years ago, but its profound impact on world history has continued to shape the evolution of a world order that has witnessed the end of colonialism, birth of new nations, the death of some powerful political entities like the Soviet Union, the increasing awreness about respect for human rights,  the rise of international institutions that have restrained human impulse to self-destruct, and the need to promote equality amongst nations and races.

This world order, it was widely believed, had ended the Cold War waged by the two major ideological blocs: the United States and the so-called free world, and the Soviet Union and the communist bloc. The Third World held onto the remaining contested turf called the Non-Aligned Nations.

Amid these shifting global political dynamics, the United States, flaunting its democratic credentials and as a land of opportunity, stood tall as the apparent winner of the Cold War.

For us in Africa, despite decolonization, the end of apartheid white minority rule in South Africa and Namibia, and the gradual fading away of tyrannical leaders amid a recent resurgence of authoritarian impulses, even as the majority of African States are still grappling with democratic consolidation, the socio-economic realities appear to be more of the same.

Imperialism, which Kwame Nkrumah predicted would be the final stage of colonialism, is becoming more dominant.

The scramble for African resources appears to be a continuation of the struggle for Africa, which began at a conference in Berlin between 1884 and 1885. France is still carrying on as usual. Its crushing and humiliating defeat by Nazi Germany during World War 11 has not dented its colonial and neo-colonial ambition, thus spurring new military juntas claiming to be resisting this status quo in the Sahel and the remaining dinosaurs struggling to perpetuate the same in Côte d’Ivoire and Cameroun.

The overthrow of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi of Libya by imperialism led by Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Nicholas Sarkozy, and Tony Blair unleashed venomous jihadism of Salafist hordes who see Africa as their next target for their adventurism after decades of jousting with the West in Afghanistan and the Middle East, in the sub-Saharan regions, with countries like Nigeria being their primary target for destruction.

The Chinese, having found their place in the sun and standing tall, with regiments of construction workers firms, strategic mineral prospecting companies, and party commissars disguised as CEOs of these ventures, have been fully nobilized. In the various nooks and cranes of Africa, with smiles on their faces and loans in briefcases to give effect to their new ideological battle, the Belt and Roads Initiatives, which their new helmsman JI Ping described as a win -win program for China and their partners, we see a new brand of effective diplomacy.

Behind these deals, however, reeks of egregious corruption, plundering of rare minerals, cybercrimes,  and other sundry state-supported crimes like illegal fishing in African maritime domains and arms supplies to totalitarian regimes abound.

The post-World War order, which gave birth to the United Nations System and, despite its imperfections, has defined a paradigm for a more humane world, is under siege.

This self-restraining order triggered a wave of democratization and the establishment of a rules-based order and political systems that make negotiations of global programs, like international trade, virtually conflict-free, and the emergence of global understanding on the need to respect the territorial integrity of nations, and the globalization of human migration, trade, and freedom of expression and cultural exchanges in a global village.

Now the world watches with animated breath, the rise of Trump, less than halfway through his last term in power. It is uncertain whether the world as we know it will survive his onslaught.  President Trump, against the run of play, was not supposed to be sitting atop the White House as President and leader of the so-called free world.

But the Democrats, led by President Joseph Biden, who, like  African leaders, didn’t know when to quit power, spent half his term fighting Trump after the latter’s failed coup attempt.

Trump, a convicted felon, narcissist, xenophobe, and racist, made it clear that he was on a revenge mission if he won, and white America, having been fed with the fear of losing power to coloured people and immigrants, took the bait.

His Make America Great Again ( MAGA) slogan has transformed into a right-wing incipient fascist movement. The ostensible goal of MAGA policies was defined as prioritizing American interests, often at the expense of not only American allies but the rest of the world.

He introduced protectionism and trade wars by imposing tariffs on aluminum and steel, and by renegotiating trade deals with Mexico, Canada, China, and the EU. He has also imposed tariffs on other countries to achieve political objectives and, as in the case of South Africa, to prevent land reforms and perpetuate white dominance of the critical sector of the South African economy, which is Agriculture by white minority farmers.

Trump replaced robust diplomatic negotiations with confrontational diplomacy, which crushed multipolarity and strained relationships with NATO’s military alliance partners. His approach reflects a shift towards unilateralism, nationalism, and pragmatism, aimed at restoring American dominance and competitiveness in a multipolar world and restoring the white supremacists to the apex of American power.

The harsh crackdown on immigrants and the fascist method of detaining them in local and foreign detention centers compares to the inhuman and degrading treatment of Jews in concentration camps by Nazi Germany.

This approach has inspired a right-wing thrust in American domestic policies.Openly, racist thugs are being celebrated more like rock stars as Trump seized Independent institutions like the Federal Reserve Board, the Justice Department, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Supreme Court, and the Department of Homeland Security. He is probing the most significant source of American power, the military establishment, for possible capture.

Trump’s multifaceted persona and actions have aroused serious debates, with many commentators questioning his mental health. His support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s genocidal onslaught on Gaza, resulting in the death of over 67 thousand persons, including women, children, health and humanitarian workers, journalists,  and the destruction of 80% of the Palestinian enclave, has attracted global outrage and charges of conspiracy in war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity.

With global outrage intensifying, and his Western allies recognizing the State of Palestine and committing to a two-state solution, Trump has hastily beat a retreat and agreed to mediate for a ceasefire after the US earlier voted against a ceasefire at the UN General Assembly.

After the ceasefire and the release of Palestinian prisoners, some of whom have spent over 20 years in Israeli prisons and Israeli hostages captured by Hamas, Trump wanted to be rewarded with a Nobel Peace Prize, priding himself, tongue in cheek, as a peacemaker.

This paradox can be understood through several lenses: transactional diplomacy, pragmatism, the role of a polarizing figure, strategic interests, personal political gains, family business interests, and bizarre, unpredictable, and unconventional styles.

Some of these approaches have inflicted enormous pain and hardship on their victims, leading to unexpected outcomes. There are fears that his unpredictable and unconventional style could lead to major conflicts, particularly with China over Taiwan, the South China Sea, and Russia’s war with Ukraine.

While supplying arms and intelligence to Ukraine, Trump is also pushing to broker peace between the two former belligerent Soviet Republics. He may yet succeed. But his major battle would be fought in his American homeland.

While claiming he wants to make America great again, Trump’s actions and policies have raised significant concerns about his potential threat to democracy in the United States.

His administration’s efforts to undermine democratic institutions, restrict voting rights, and promote authoritarian tendencies could erode the country’s democratic culture, sparking fears about the legitimacy of future elections. Having tried and failed in the past to rig elections, he or his cohorts could try again, in a more audacious manner.

Trump’s rhetoric and policies, open admiration for autocrats, and the deployment of the military to fight crime waves in California, Chicago, Washington, DC, and several American cities, and deploying them against protesters, have raised the ugly specter of America on an inexorable decline. This fear is not misplaced.

Trump’s administration’s attack on academic freedom, pressuring universities to restrict academic programs, supports the idea that this measure undermines the core of American intellectual strength, leading to the erosion of academic freedom and institutional autonomy.

Americans, I believe, will resist him and counter these dangerous drifts. As was demonstrated last in the NO KING protests in major American cities. There is no question that the battle line is drawn. Would Trump’s world prevail? It would be easier to get a Nobel Peace Prize than to undermine American democracy.