Trump is no ‘strongman’ when it comes to Russia or Israel. If other democracies don’t step up, anarchy awaits | Simon Tisdall

IIt is too easy to blame Donald Trump for everything that is wrong in the world. The ability of any American president to change or fundamentally control the behavior of other major powers is frequently overestimated. However, by pretending to be a kind of world monarch and great arbiter of war and peace, Trump perpetuates the fantasies of hegemony, omnipotence and divine law. Enivided by such impassing delusions of the Ego, he signed before taking office to quickly end the Ukraine and Gaza conflicts. Perhaps, in his vanity and his pride, he really thought he could.

Eight months later, the exact opposite occurs. The two crises develop and increase. The bubble broke out, his bluff was called, the emperor has no clothes – and it is undeniable that Trump, soaring, excusing and encouraging the two bad guys of these twin tragedies, is greatly to blame. The multiple Russian drones last week include NATO Poland – which Polish officials are right to deliberately call – Risk transforming Ukrainian war into a conflagration on the scale of Europe. Similarly, the reckless and illegal Israeli air strike in Qatar, which exploded the peace process of Gaza, physically and metaphorically, the regional tensions.

A common factor in the two developments is American weakness, that is to say the weakness of Trump. Another American president devoted so much efforts to be resembled a strong leader while not miserably acted when this is important? A large part of what it does, whether it is to promulgate illegal executive decrees, to dismiss senior officials, to intimidate defenseless neighbors and migrants, to order troops in the streets of American cities, to support another head of the coup in Brazil, or to choose fights with judges and independent media, consists in strengthening the image of Strongman Trump.

The reality is very different. When Trump faces difficult and inflexible opponents, rather than soft targets, he folds. He makes promoters. Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu worked a long time ago. The two men play it for a suction cup. They flatter him. They turn lies about wanting peace. They offer easy victories. Then they go home, as was the case with Putin after the embarrassing Alaska summit last month, and continue to do what they want, which generally implies even greater violence. When an angry Trump calls to complain, as after the Netanyahu Qatar raid, and Whinges, pathetically, that he is “not happy”, he simply confirms his weakness – and is ignored.

Far from facilitating the end of these wars, Trump has become a main obstacle to peace. His interventions not considered, grandeur and bias aggravate things, extending the two conflicts. His shortage of leadership skills, associated with a lack of integrity and common sense, is shocking for Europeans, used to dealing with mainly rational and relatively competent presidents. Trump’s hostility towards the EU and NATO, its tariff wars and anti -democratic machinations have still undermined Western cohesion and confidence – and increase authoritarian regimes.

Looking from his lair of Kremlin, Putin acts accordingly. The incursion of the drone in Poland – not the first, but by far the most important – was a calculated test of the reactions and the unit of NATO. It will have been satisfied with the defensive vulnerabilities that it exposed and the uneven political response. Trump has said little so far – and has done nothing. His silence is revealing. He will not admit that his subsistence which behaves towards Putin has returned. Despite the many military, diplomatic and economic weapons at his disposal, he will now invoke the strength and courage to take a stand. Putin therefore gets a free pass, again. Next time, it could be worse. What if, say, Russia directly threatens Finland? Or Germany? What will Trump do then?

On the proof to date, suspicion is: not much. Former President Joe Biden was rightly criticized for playing it with caution in Ukraine. Trump is barely in the game. British and European NATO states must stop posting to Washington, remove the gloves and finally trace a line with Moscow. The creation of a protected flight area on the unoccupied areas of Ukraine, expanding military aid, interrupting all Russian energy imports, confiscating frozen funds from the Kremlin, insulating sanctions that shake Russian and Chinese banks and retrograding or reducing diplomatic links with the Putin regime are several times. And if necessary, the European armies must be ready to resume. Waiting Trump is as futile as waiting for Godot, without jokes.

The Arab leaders meeting this weekend face similar pressures to break with the United States after Trump sat behind while Netanyahu added Qatar, an American ally, in the long list of countries that Israel has attacked with planes and bombs applied in the United States since October 7, 2023. What price now to redo the Middle East? American policy is held hostage to the extremist nihilism of Netanyahu. Cut American weapons supplies in Israel. Frozen bilateral financial assistance. Impose sanctions. Support the proceedings against the war crimes of Israeli leaders. Recognize an independent state of Palestine. Any normal American president can do a party or all this. But Trump is not normal. It is an aberration. He is out of his depth.

The historical failures of the international leadership are increasingly common in this fractured world of the 21st century. One was the 2003 American-British decision to invade Iraq. Another is not effectively approaching the climate emergency. Now, two more epic disasters comparable simultaneously. If the UN, holding its annual meeting this month, if Europe, if the West authorizes Russia and Israel to continue their murderous, illegal, immoral and constant expansion assault, it cannot be prevented from an accelerated descent in world anarchy.

Unless the Democratic countries unite to obtain a rapid stop of these wars, employing all the necessary means, including the military force, then greater calamities will follow. But do not count on the United States to take the lead. Do not count on Trump weak. It is part of the problem. He’s fried.