Much has been said about violence being fundamentally incompatible with democracy. However, commentators justifying violence often come from Western democracies.
The entire world, not just Americans, is contemplating the consequences of the failed attempt to assassinate Donald Trump, fearing that political instability could worsen global instability.
The latest assassination attempt, like many throughout history, will be analyzed for years in terms of its causes and outcomes.
Conspiracy theories quickly obscure the facts. Even if authorities clarify all aspects of the incident, questions will persist about the shooter's motives, what drove him to attack Trump, and who was behind the failed assassination.
In the aftermath, both Trump and President Joe Biden adopted a moderate tone, seemingly to mitigate their country's political fragility and polarization.
While both leaders emphasized that there is no place for violence in American politics, history suggests otherwise.
The reality is that violence is a constant in American political and daily life. Thus, the attempt on Trump’s life was not an exception in U.S. history. Analysts quickly referenced past presidents and presidential candidates who either survived assassination attempts or were assassinated, treating the event as a typical feature of American history.
It's worth noting that firearms claim more than 40,000 lives annually in the United States, which leads the world in firearm ownership per capita. In a country that defines itself as an advanced democracy, the possibility of a civil war due to extreme political polarization has long been debated. Many attribute the increasing polarization primarily to the lack of strong political leadership.
When he first ran for office, Trump was merely a businessperson who was often ridiculed. After completing his first term and facing lawsuits over various scandals, it was said he wouldn’t even be able to run again.
Now, however, after a hiatus, it is almost certain that he will win the elections. Following the assassination attempt, his presidency was nearly declared.
Biden, if elected, was expected to normalize America, re-unite democracies worldwide and make greater efforts to resolve conflicts.
None of this happened during his four-year term. Currently, even the Democrats are in crisis. They are experiencing the contradiction of having to vote for their own candidate, Biden, despite pressuring him to withdraw from the candidacy on the grounds that he could not even run a campaign.
During Biden's term, Russia launched a war against Ukraine. Israel, with unconditional support from the U.S., committed genocide against the Palestinians. In short, there has not been a single positive development in the world.
At this point, global pessimism is on the rise. As crises increase, multiple uncertainties deepen. Since permanent solutions cannot be produced for ongoing conflicts, even freezing some of them is considered an achievement.
The future of international relations can no longer be discussed without using concepts like World War III, the age of chaos, the end of a rules-based international community, the failure of systemic order and a pile of dysfunctional international organizations.
Globally, debates have already begun about what changes in U.S. foreign policy might occur if Trump is reelected, especially concerning the Ukraine-Russia war.
However, Americans are more focused on the potential crises and shocks that might occur in the run-up to the elections than on the consequences of another Trump administration.
