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We say that international affairs are all about the small happenings of a big few. Those big few are no one but the individual actors that are relevant to the extent of a state itself. A recent confession has come to the stage where it is being proclaimed that US Ex-President Donald Trump has shared details about the capabilities of US submarines with an Australian businessman Anthony Pratt. It has been confirmed that the US ex-president has explicitly shared the details of how much nuclear warhead a submarine can carry and how close they can move without being detected by the Russian naval radars. The confession stormed the US intelligence and the public.
It is important to note that Trump is already facing legal battles for his malpractices regarding the previous electoral process and his manipulation of assets to receive good terms from financial institutions. As we know this certain attitude of Trump is no new concept as previously his conduct as head of the free world caught a wide amount of criticism and now it seems that Trumpism is haunting US national security at large. It’s a considerate fact that Trump’s persona revolves around a right-wing corporate who keeps nationalist tendencies regarding Americanism.
A businessman sworn in as the 45th president of the US is a character who does not respect political values but sees statesmanship as a commodity to sell and buy. This recent confession also highlights this pattern of Trumpism where he was having a prior discussion with Pratt about why Australia should buy submarines from the US military-industrial complex. We also have to view this happening from a standpoint of how geoeconomics is compromising the contours of security. Now that the world is captivated by the hands of economic interdependence and cooperation, we can see that it is coming at the cost of state security.
As the world is already engaged in the debate of whether are we still living in sovereign states. This shows that we have to restructure the concept of sovereignty and its underlying elements as well. Speaking in the context of this very confession one can analyze how individuals can influence geopolitical dynamics. This also relates to the irony of individualism that is strongly supported by America itself. Was Trump doing this under the pretext of exercising individual business rights or was he committed a crime of treason? What was his capacity? Was he bound under the provision of laws regarding the state’s classified information or was he at the liberty to be a big gun in a US corporate culture? Surely, he is going to face the legal music and the blues are going to make it sure.
We have seen that Trump showed flawed statesmanship as he led US politics along the lines of antagonism. Surprisingly he remained in office and turned down the impeachment as well. Already in line for the next presidential elections, surely the heated campaigns will be a battle of narratives mainly focused on the question of who is a threat to US national security and who is not. Given this, we can predict that Trump’s verbal adventure might serve as the last nail in the coffin if not for the Republicans but surely for his political career at least. It is a widely accepted fact that society believes what it sees, we have previously observed that it was genuinely easy for the US political elite to shape public opinions based on security-related affairs.
In the West society still breathes under the values of what is security and what is a threat. We have to see which course of study this Trump Pratt talk will proceed through. Whether it will be constructed as a postmodern threat or a violation of law that limits the words of an Ex-Premier. For sure this is going to set a benchmark for the times to come and for the personality who will step in the house of cards. This will also lead to the avenue where a debate to define the position of ex-premiers will be initiated. Moreover, this will also show where society, politics, and individuals stand when it comes to comprehending words and the realities behind them. Will it be a bullet to fire or an opportunity to cherish? Surely US history is going to thank Trump for helping it write a unique chapter on the individual vs national interest.
The writer is a student of International Relations.
