The wars of 18th century Europe were fought by professional armies over limited territorial disputes. They were between kings, respective of each other’s right to rule, pushing the boundaries of the balance of power on the basis of ruthless calculations of their interests, yet never quite breaking through them. This situation changed irrevocably after the French Revolution brought Napoleon I to power and with him a war not of militaries, but of entire peoples. Napoleon was not after concessions but rather exporting the revolution, and his writ, to all of Europe. He proclaimed the ideals of the French Revolution to be universal, leveraging the first citizen-drafted army from the continent’s most respected land-based military power to back the unlimited claims of his personal rule. It took years for the other great powers to recognize that Napoleon was playing by an entirely different set of rules. After his candidacy and one week of his presidency, it should be clear to all that Donald Trump is deliberately overturning today’s set of rules in a revolutionary effort to create a more isolated, more fearful and less compassionate America.
Often, the argument is made that President Trump stands for nothing and, therefore, is unpredictable. But this is a fundamentally misguided assessment. It underestimates the ideological coherence of Trump’s nationalist agenda, and if allowed to stand, it will leave us at the mercy of a deluge of uninterrupted shocks. In fact, it would border on intellectual dishonesty not to assess that after a week in office, President Donald Trump is shaping up to be just as much of a revolutionary figure as Napoleon.
Let’s examine his rhetoric. His inaugural address, the first of such addresses in the nation’s history to feature the words “carnage” and “tombstones,” was a dark paean to the nationalism and nihilism of his supporters. He proclaimed “America First” to allies and partners who depend on America’s commitment to their security and a rules-based international order, sending a message to that same order’s worst transgressors that its principal enforcer would be abdicating its responsibilities. He denounced the entire political system and the public servants who sat behind him to provide their support, accusing them of exploiting the nation and prospering as the American people suffered. A day later, he disregarded and disdained facts concerning inaugural crowd sizes that undermine his narrative of unqualified triumph, legitimizing the worst tendencies of a divided nation. He has declared the media “the opposition party,” echoing authoritarians past and present.
If his rhetoric was and has been revolutionary, then his actions have been equally disruptive in the week since he transitioned from private citizen to U.S. President. He officially killed TPP, ceding the Asia Pacific region’s economic and strategic framework to the upcoming Chinese alternative. He made glib references to torture and resurrecting CIA black sites across the world. He is keeping a tab of all crimes committed in the United States by undocumented immigrants, just as the Nazis kept tabs of crimes committed by Jews. He ordered government agencies to stop providing updates to the public through social media, fearful of the implications that such data can have in swaying public opinion. He has made preparations for a 20 percent border tax levied against trade with Mexico to pay for his boondoggle of a wall. He promoted his chief strategist, Stephen Bannon, the former editor-in-chief of the white nationalist Breitbart website, to permanent membership of the National Security Council, downgrading the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Director of National Intelligence from the NSC at the same time. He implemented a “temporary” travel ban from seven Muslim-majority nations without prior warning or consultation with the relevant agencies, as well as a “temporary” shutdown of the U.S. refugee program. This was done on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, sowing chaos and confusion at airports and breaking the hearts of families’ across the country, declaring the United States a cruel, selfish, fearful nation and himself a coward.
In short order, the President has determined that America abandon its core values of openness and pluralism, its commitment to freedom and basic decency, its belief that morality should play an instrumental role in determining all aspects of a nation’s policies. The word should go forth from this point on that standing up to this administration is everyone’s duty as American citizens. We cannot let this revolution acquire the legitimacy it seeks.
Olivier Weiss is an Opinion columnist for The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at o.weiss@cavalierdaily.com.
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