Editorial cartoon by David Parkins, The Globe and Mail
By Marco Levytsky, Editorial Writer
Two weeks ago, we commented that the unthinkable could happen. That a convicted felon who has violated the Constitution of the United States could actually win the Presidential election.
Not only did it happen, it wasn’t even close. Donald Trump swept the Electoral College count 313-226 and for the first time in three elections won the popular vote – by four percent to boot. What makes this even worse is that the Republicans have regained control of the Senate and have retained their majority in the House of Representatives. Furthermore, the Supreme Court is already packed with his appointees who have recently provided Trump immunity from prosecution for any conduct while president that constitutes an official act even if that conduct might otherwise be criminal in nature were it not an official act. Taking all these factors into consideration including the slavish subservience of Republican legislators to his whims, Trump is not only in control of the Executive Branch of Government, but also the Legislative and Judicial ones, leaving no checks and balances on his power that the Founding Fathers of the United States put in the constitution to prevent a descent into autocratic rule.
As Globe and Mail columnist Andrw Coyne put it: “There is no sense in understating the depth of the disaster. This is a crisis like no other in our lifetimes. The government of the United States has been delivered into the hands of a gangster, whose sole purpose in running, besides staying out of jail, is to seek revenge on his enemies. The damage Donald Trump and his nihilist cronies can do – to America, but also to its democratic allies, and to the peace and security of the world – is incalculable. We are living in the time of Nero.
“The first six months will be a time of maximum peril. NATO must from this moment be considered effectively obsolete, without the American security guarantee that has always been its bedrock. We may see new incursions by Russia into Europe – the poor Ukrainians are probably done for, but now it is the Baltics and the Poles who must worry – before the Europeans have time to organize an alternative. China may also accelerate its Taiwanese ambitions.”
Trump’s foreign policy aim is to set the Republican Party and the country itself back 100 years to when isolationism ruled the day. That misguided policy ultimately paved the road to World War II. This puts Ukraine which is fighting an existential war for its very survival in an especially dangerous situation. Trump has pledged to end the war “within 24 hours” without specifying how. Taking into account his friendly relationship with Vladimir Putin, which borders on admiration if not outright adulation, and Vice President-elect JD Vance’s comments that if Ukraine wants peace it will have to give up some territory, Trump will most likely force Ukraine to do so by threatening to withhold further military aid.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has proceeded very cautiously. He congratulated Trump and urged him to continue supporting Kyiv against Putin’s invasion. He praised Trump's “peace through strength” philosophy, calling it the basis for a just peace for Ukraine.
Ukraine has been preparing for a possible Republican victory, as reflected in President Zelensky’s victory plan which he presented to Trump in September.
According to People’s Deputy Mykola Knyazhytsky, some parts of this plan — such as agreements with partners on Ukrainian minerals and the potential replacement of US troops in Europe with Ukrainian units — could appeal to Trump.
“There is much work ahead… Ultimately, the fate of the world will be decided by the Ukrainian soldier. But in such a scenario, our state administration needs to mature and take greater responsibility,” he added.
Joe Biden’s presidential term will expire on January 20. It is imperative that he use his remaining time in office to strengthen Ukraine’s position as much as possible. First, he must lift all the restrictions he has placed upon Ukraine’s use of American weapons so that it can target as many strategic Russian military sites as possible to thwart Russia’s ability to bomb civilian buildings and infrastructure of every description and thereby significantly reduce the number of innocent non-combatants killed or permanently injured by such shelling and bombing. At the same time, he must deliver what already has been promised. On Oct. 31 Zelensky stated that 90% of the $61 billion aid package passed in April after months long delays and pushback from House Republicans, has still to arrive. Such a delay is unconscionable. He must also work to make Ukraine’s NATO membership inevitable. Biden has always fretted about taking any step or authorizing any measure that might escalate the Ukraine war into a global conflict. Tragically, this thinking has produced exactly the opposite result to that intended. It is precisely Biden’s failure to fully equip Ukraine, on a timely basis, with the weaponry it needs, and to afford it the full latitude it requires, to decisively defeat Russia on the battlefield that has posed the greater danger of escalation. Witness, for example, how quickly Russia came to rely first on deliveries of thousands of state-of-the-art Iranian drones to conduct its bombing missions across the whole of Ukrainian territory (once it became clear that these drones were extremely difficult and/or costly to shoot down), followed by successively larger and more frequent shipments to Russia of Iranian ballistic missiles (as Russian supplies began dwindling), and then the delivery of millions of artillery shells from North Korea (as Russian inventories began being used up) and, most recently, the engagement by Russia of thousands of North Korean special forces now being thrown directly into battle along the front lines in eastern Ukraine. Observe also, that for all the talk of U.S. and other NATO member concerns about escalation, absolutely no limits of any kind, no red lines of any description, have ever applied to the deployment of any weapons of any kind anywhere in Ukraine by Russia or its allies, save the use of nuclear weapons (which the U.S., and even China and India have warned Russia to never use) demonstrates.
Faced with Trump’s neo-isolationism both Canada and our European allies must realize that it’s time to step up to the plate. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s plan to reach the minimum NATO contribution target of 2% by 2032 is totally inadequate. Does he expect Vladimir Putin to put aside his imperial ambitions for eight years so that Canada can play catch-up?
Both France and Germany have called for Europe to unite to meet the challenges posed by what French President Emmanuel Macron called “the new context”. As German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock put it: “We must now think big and make big investments in our European security.”
Better late than never, but now that reality is starting to hit home Europeans have to do much more than just talk. Resolute action is needed right now. Western European democracies failed to deal with US isolationism in the 1930s opting instead for the weak-kneed policies of appeasement that led to World War II. That cannot be allowed to happen today.
We have two months to turn the momentum in Ukraine around and to provide Ukraine with the weapons and arms it needs. Every day counts, every Ukrainian soldier, every weapon, every missile, every bullet counts.
NATO's article 5 is dubious going forward as America has adopted isolationism. The best policy for NATO now is total support for Ukraine to avoid expansion of the war into the rest of Europe.
Canada should take the lead in rally support for this support for Ukraine, while Ukrainians in America have to start aggressively pressing Republican legislators to support Ukraine. Chief among the arguments is America's guarantee in Budapest and America's well being if it adopts a lone ranger policy. It is in the best interests of the USA not to be a lone ranger because no country will last long going it alone in this dangerous world.
Most important is the fact that the best guarantee of peace in Europe and the world is the victory of Ukraine in the war against Russia now.
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