The Global Policy Institute at Loyola Marymount University is pleased to publish this guest blog written by Irene Fowler, a lawyer based in Lagos, Nigeria. Ms. Fowler’s work often appears in The Guardian of Nigeria. Ms. Fowler has a degree from the Harvard Law School.
In this guest blog, she explores the impact of the Trump administration on the challenges and aspirations for democracy in Africa.
Michael A. Genovese
President of the GPI
The Trump Administration and Africa
The world is gripped in a fast moving part burlesque, part horror show, as we continue to be privy to the chaos and divisiveness of the Trump Administration. The problem is that the sequence of events has long ceased to engender laughter and wry smiles, but is instead causing consternation, deep unease and fear of the present and future. As a global citizen I welcomed the 2016 election of Donald Trump as the next President of the United States of America and de facto leader of the free world. What I found somewhat ignoble and morally dubious, was his chosen path to power as the Trump train rode into power by embracing and massaging dark and negative emotions of a panicked, cudgeled and fearful segment of the American populace. In so doing he unleashed malevolent forces and gave the watching world a master class in divide and rule campaign politics, which if practiced in vulnerable democracies,
such as exist in Africa, would definitely lead to mayhem.
In the spirit of fairness and objectivity, I was more than willing to give him the chance to change his trajectory in favour of a leadership style which was not only Inclusive, but equally importantly projected the gravitas, magnanimity, sagacity, honesty, discipline and humility traditionally associated with the office and indispensible to the faithful and successful execution of U.S. Presidential domestic and global duties. Regrettably, I will not have misspoken by saying that not only has he missed the mark, he seems to have missed the plot concerning the role of the U.S. as a bastion and model of Democratic institutions and principles , to which African Democracies aspire.
Trump’s public, vitriolic attacks on the U.S. media, who he labeled as the enemy of the people, is chilling as are his attacks on the U.S. judiciary. These bedrock pillars of democracy are being subjected to a severe stress test under the Trump Administration. Added to the toxic climate, is his mawkish public praise of dictators who denigrate human rights and are unrepentant despots. For us in Africa, where millions have suffered and died under the jackboots and oppression of military and other authoritarian regimes, this is not only shocking and disheartening, it is a betrayal of our struggle for Democratic governance and values. These developments are a leap into the darkness as there are potential “strong men” waiting in the wings for the right cue to usurp power and brandish their form of megalomania and Trump seems to be holding up their cue cards.
The problem is that African democracies do not have the proven Executive Branch checks and balances which exist in America and if tyranny is allowed to flower, full scale pandemonium and bloodshed would likely ensue. The constitutionally entrenched separation of powers safeguards, which protect against Executive Branch malfeasance and overreach are currently manifest in the high octane Trump-Russia Mueller probe as well as the equally high profile Congressional Investigations on the same subject matter. These welcome developments are a lesson I hope will resonate in Africa, as we witness in admiration the dynamics of a functioning democracy.
Concerning trade and international relations with Africa, Trump’s lack of articulated cogent policies, save the Moslem Travel Ban, poses a lacuna. It is not clear if the Obama Administration 2013 programme initiative of the Office of the United States Trade Representative, which “seeks to increase internal and regional trade” will be expedited, facilitated or will simply be glossed over. The Department is charged with implementing and overseeing The U.S. 2000 African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). An unfortunate consequence of failing to consolidate or expand AGOA would be an increase in the number of economic refugees from Africa to the West. This would undoubtedly impact the delicately balanced economic and social environment in the affected Western countries.
The Trump Administration is in the process of downgrading the U.S. Department of State responsible for implementing U.S. foreign policy, which traditionally involved the exercise of soft power, made possible to roll out as a result of decades of carefully crafted diplomacy, open lines of communication, mutual respect and a shared desire for sustainable growth and development. The Agency under Secretary Tillerson has proposed sizable cuts to staff and programmes, which will inevitably affect image boosting U.S. foreign aid, disaster relief and international development assistance.
As Trump continues to stoke conflagrations at home and abroad and preside smugly over the fast smouldering embers, the question must be posed whether he is unable or unwilling to properly and faithfully discharge the sacred and extremely grave duties of the highest office in the universe. This line of enquiry takes on added significance In light of the ongoing Russia and obstruction of justice investigations, the state of his hamstrung legislative agenda and his current personal and potentially cataclysmic standoff with the leader of North Korea, Kim Jung-un. In poll after poll, global confidence in Trump’s leadership in world affairs continues to plummet. As a global citizen who champions the causes of harmony, understanding, peace and progress, I add my voice to the rising crescendo of concerned voices in the U.S. and around the world, to ask for the restoration of historic and traditional moorings and bearings expected and due from the most powerful nation on earth. If there is a silver lining to the ominous clouds we face, it can be summed up in the poignant and prescient words of the great British statesman, Sir Winston Churchill who famously opined, “Americans will always do the right thing, only after they have tried everything else.”
Irene Fowler