By Mahvish Malik
A famous Scottish novelist Robert Louis Stevenson once said that Politics is perhaps the only profession for which no preparation is thought necessary. President of the United States (POTUS) Donald Trump is often criticized for being ‘blunt’ and ‘arrogant’ in media appearances. Mr. President’s ultranationalist approach towards rational decision making is often debated in different aspects of domestic and foreign policy decisions.
During his Annual State of the Union address on 5 Feb 2019, President Trump reflected on political, economic and military commitments at domestic and international level and signaled some important international trends and U.S. approach towards some regions. This year’s address was more focused on elaborating President Trump’s progress over domestic rhetoric commitments. As compared to the last years’ address, less aggressive language was used against China and Russia.
Perhaps, the Administration was focused on echoing the Republican’s political agenda for paving the path for their future national policy documents including the Nuclear Posture Review and Missile Defense Review etc. Moreover, the political context in case of North Korea was more hostile in early 2018 whereby, President Trump used more aggressive language against North Korea.
The main section of the 2019 Union Address focused on highlighting the progress towards fulfillment of the domestic commitments towards jobs protection, revitalizing infrastructure, healthcare polices, immigration system and committed to pursue foreign policy that flags U.S. interests first. The other part cited the significance of imposing 250 billion dollars trade tariffs on Chinese goods.
Moving further, President Trump debated the issues that remained integral for protecting American national security around the world. In this regard, President Trump credited his Administration with the withdrawal from the ‘disastrous Iran nuclear deal’ and remained committed to impose toughest sanctions on Iran in future. On contrary, many states including U.S. allies are unappreciative of this political move and put their economic investments in jeopardy.
The other debate on protecting American national security included, development of a state-of-the-art Missile Defense System; securing a 100 billion dollars increase in
defense spending from NATO allies; withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty and hinting towards possible negotiations on a different agreement which especially includes China.
Most significantly, the U.S. withdrawal from INF treaty was a major blow for nuclear non-proliferation regime. U.S. intentions of only pursuing those arms control measures that would include China and others by not implying names hints at the inclusion of rest of the nuclear armed states. This is the time where, arms control regime is fading out due to vanishing precedents like INF Treaty towards strengthening the nuclear non-proliferation regime.
The prospects of India being willing to participate in such an arrangement especially when said arrangement runs contrary to Indian military interest of modernizing its nuclear forces and achieving the delusional status of regional hegemon in South Asia is worth exploring. Moreover, President Trump appreciated his Administration’s pursuit of a ‘new bold diplomacy’ for a peaceful Korean Peninsula while mentioning his meeting with Kim Jong Un on 26-27 Feb 2018. However, this U.S. Peaceful behavior towards North Korean counterpart in forthcoming meetings may not last forever, until or unless, these political dialogues achieve some concrete initiative or agreements with regards to denuclearization of Korean Peninsula.
On the issue of Afghanistan, President Trump seemed to reiterate his position of no long-term stay of the U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan. The POTUS asserted that, as we make progress in these negotiations, we will be able to reduce our troop presence and focus on counter-terrorism. We do not know whether we will achieve an agreement — but we do know that after two decades of war, the hour has come to at least try for peace.
His appreciation for current political dialogue for Afghan Peace Process is a positive step towards building the peaceful future of Afghanistan. This policy is in-line with Pakistan’s official position on supporting Afghan Peace Talks for contributing towards Afghans political settlement. Therefore, in the backdrop of major geo-political developments, this annual address has mainstreamed and reiterated the U.S. role in different regions; while showed its vague commitment towards nuclear arms control measures.
