Trump’s main challenges to set in motion the domino of hegemony in the Western Hemisphere

According to Isna, putting pressure on the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by Donald Trump’s administration is only part of a larger campaign to reassert American hegemony in the Western Hemisphere; This campaign is rooted in history and strong strategic logic, but it is accompanied by unanswered questions and serious risks.

“Hal Brand”, a right-wing researcher of the American Enterprise Foundation and a columnist for Bloomberg, wrote in a note in this News agency, saying: American presidents have long pledged to prioritize the Western Hemisphere and realize “America First”. Donald Trump is doing the same today; Meanwhile, the world is waiting to see if Trump will attack Venezuela while the Pentagon gathers its fighters and warships in the Caribbean.

During the first term of the presidency, the Trump administration promised to revive this 200-year-old doctrine. His government at the time tried, but failed, to remove Maduro from the region. Trump began his second term with an inauguration speech that sounded like it was stolen from the 19th century. Since then, he has pursued a determined agenda for dominance in the hemisphere.

In the continuation of this article, referring to the actions of Trump’s second administration, his administration forced Panama to withdraw from China’s Belt and Road Initiative and limit Beijing’s control over the ports of the Panama Canal. Trump offered crucial financial support to Argentina with the aim of strengthening the pro-American Argentine government and distancing it from Beijing. The White House negotiated an expulsion pact with El Salvador. The administration has used threats of military intervention to pressure Mexico to get tougher on drug trafficking and illegal immigration. Trump threatened the governments of Brazil and Venezuela, which challenged US power. He used counter-tariffs as leverage against Mexico and Canada. Trump even renamed the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of the Americas,” a symbolic assertion of American dominance over the southern region.

The White House hopes pressure on Venezuela will set the dominoes of US hegemony in the Caribbean in motion.

The author believes: “The main focus of this invasion is the confrontation with Venezuela. Trump has intensified deadly attacks against suspected drug traffickers. But the fleet he has assembled, which will soon include an aircraft carrier, is far greater than the capabilities required for an anti-narcotics operation.

Trump is ramping up the repressive pressure to a tipping point to drive Maduro out, or perhaps he’s aiming for an airstrike to topple his regime. There seems to be hope that the overthrow of the Venezuelan government will set regional dominoes in motion; This will increase pressure on Cuba and Nicaragua, two other authoritarian regimes supported by Russia and China, and encourage other countries to crack down on drug traffickers.

The four main challenges of Trump’s domineering policies

Pointing out that “Trump’s policies are a response to those who claim that the United States has neglected the home hemisphere (the Americas), Hal Brand describes four challenges of these policies and writes: “First, Trump’s brilliant ideas are mixed with weak plans. Strengthening American influence is a worthy effort, but not blatant interference in Brazil’s judicial process in favor of Jair Bolsonaro, the country’s discredited former president. Protecting Greenland and the Panama Canal against superpower rivals is undeniable, but the threat of outright confiscation of these territories is provocative.

Securing borders and targeting drug traffickers are defensible policies. But the legality of deporting deported immigrants to El Salvador or blowing up boats in the water is at least ambiguous. A region under American influence is desirable, while a region free from the rule of law is not.

Bloomberg continued: “Secondly, the policy of “America first” may exacerbate global strategic dilemmas. Perhaps, instead of patrolling the distant borders of Eurasia, the US military should deal with concrete and imminent threats against the sovereignty of this country. Of course, America’s preeminence in the Western Hemisphere has long served as a platform for the exercise of global power. Currently, an overstretched military can only increase its presence in the Caribbean by transferring resources from Europe and the Middle East. “Strengthening America’s position near the borders without weakening it abroad is a big challenge.”

In explaining the third challenge of Trump’s domineering policies, Hal Brand wrote: “Trump must be careful in his demands. Maybe America can engineer Maduro’s ouster and a smooth transition to democracy. Maybe we will get anarchy, even a civil war that will destabilize a vital region. Trump likes to make big moves and then announce that complex problems have been solved — like bombing Iran’s nuclear program. But regime change will be the beginning of a long transition to a new Venezuela, not the end of it.”

In the end, the author stated: “Fourth is that Trump is forced to take constructive actions in addition to destruction. He has heavily used military power, covert intervention and economic pressure, but has not done enough to build win-win relationships, including new trade agreements, supply chain partnerships, and diplomatic and security arrangements that would enhance the region’s strategic coherence. Impositional tactics may make headlines, but stronger ties of cooperation are vital to realizing Trump’s America First policy and making the Western Hemisphere a bulwark in a fragmenting world.”

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