Most observers both in the West and in other parts of the world nowadays discuss the impact of Donald Trump’s return to power in the United States. Following that, most observers have begun analyzing the meaning of Trump’s policies from conceptual and theoretical perspectives. Many Western academicians and intellectuals have been trying to show that Trump’s administration and policies are an anomaly in the Western world. Thus, they mislead the world's public opinion.
In reality, Trump’s return is not the reason for the rise of power politics, ultranationalism, great power rivalry, illiberalism, xenophobia, anti-Islamism, theo-politics, etc. in the West. On the contrary, Trump’s ascendance to power is a direct result of all these developments in the West. Therefore, the current crisis in the West and the world is much deeper than Trump’s election.
The Western countries continue to look at the wrong place. They blame refugees, Muslims, China the Global South and the poor for the negative zero-sum developments. Although the West lost all of its values and assets in its own house, it persistently looks for them in other nations and civilizations. It is clear that they will not find the correct answer, since they look for the causes of their problems in the wrong place.
The biggest threat to Western civilization is not the rise of China, political Islam, or any other “detrimental” development in the Global South, as mainstream Western circles claim. Instead, it is the conduct of Western countries. The main reason for Western conflicts and crises is their policies.
Although Western countries are still the most attractive destinations for refugees and the poor around the world, it has lost much of its attraction. All Western countries have largely lost their free and liberal spirit. Especially, the ongoing genocide in Gaza and the continuous rise of illiberalism and authoritarianism in Western countries reveal the inconsistency of Western governments. For example, no redline is left unviolated in Gaza, but still, most Western governments and political actors continue to support the Israeli aggression in the Middle East. They continue to blame the others for all regional and global crises.
There is a well-known saying in Türkiye: "If the first button of a shirt is fastened wrong, all the others will follow suit." The Western global powers fasten the first button wrong. They did not mind, and still don’t care, about the rise of racism, illiberalism and xenophobia in the West or the unequal income distribution and the negative effects of climate change in the world.
Western global powers directly or indirectly create most of these political, economic and social problems worldwide, but force others to take measures against these threats. As some Western politicians and academicians confess from time to time, they create and support terrorist organizations, but they blame the countries that suffer from the attacks of these violent organizations for the rise of these organizations.
They never question themselves. Instead, it is easier for the West to blame others. Western countries are responsible for the ineffectiveness of international law principles or international organizations such as the United Nations. They clearly articulate that they created and developed all these for others, not for themselves. In other words, the responsibility of the U.N. Security Council is to prevent aggression of non-Western countries. It is not a problem for the Western states to damage international peace and security. Therefore, the Western governments blame the International Criminal Court (ICC) or the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for investigating the violations of Israel.
For Western politicians and academics, it is just fine and necessary that the ICC or ICJ take action against Russian President Vladimir Putin or the former president of Sudan Omar al-Basheer; but it is not allowed for the very same institutions to take action against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Cabinet. Today, most Western governments do not hesitate to take action against those who criticize Israel and its supporters. They take action against their own societal and political actors who criticize their respective governments.
In the end, Western critics should not criticize Trump for his unwanted policies. They are the ones who paved the way for the rise of Trump and similar politicians. Nowadays, some Western countries try to raise their voices against Trump and some of his Cabinet members' interventions in their domestic affairs, while continuing to intervene in the domestic affairs of many non-Western countries.
It is clear to everyone that the current global system is not sustainable. For a better and promising world system, Western global powers, especially the European countries, have to change themselves first. Otherwise, they will continue to cut the branch that they sit on. If they do not take the necessary measures, they will all face a political atmosphere in which they risk losing their political sovereignty soon. They have to act before it is too late. The clock is ticking and time is running out.
