Globalism

Trump may have done us all the favor of destroying this last major remnant of the era of Western domination of the world-system. Of course, the demise of the G-7 will not mean that the struggle for a better world is over. Not at all. Those who back a system of exploitation and hierarchy will simply look for other ways of doing it.

Narco-corruption, ISIS 3.0, and the terror drone attack that never happened. In the Pentagon's dystopian war-game future, more than two decades of fighting “them over there so we do not have to face them in the United States of America” (as former President George W. Bush put it in 2007) proves unequivocally futile.

Insults seem to be a tool defining Trumpism, one that the president uses constantly and with relish. The insults are part of a deliberate strategy which Trump thinks will best further his dominance of the U.S. and world scene and the implementing of his policies.

With the Trump administration creating such a hostile atmosphere, the role of sanctuary to protect vulnerable communities has become even more critical. But in the long term, sanctuary has to mean more than just providing refuge, or filing legal briefs on behalf of the displaced, though these services are vital. Ultimately, with sanctuary should come a renewed commitment to challenging the U.S. foreign policies that actually displace people.

In most military conflicts worldwide, the ultimate winners are not one of the warring parties– but the world’s prolific arms traders, described by peace activists as “merchants of death.” According to a new study, the world’s five top arms suppliers are the US, Russia, France, China, and Germany. Together, these five biggest exporters have accounted for about 74 per cent of all arms exports during 2013–17.

The most fluid arena in the modern world-system is arguably the geopolitical arena. No country comes even near to dominating this arena. The last hegemonic power, the United States, has long acted like a helpless giant. It is able to destroy but not to control the situation.