Donald Trump was elected the President of the United States on November 8, 2016 (Trump presidency, 2016). His widely publicized and somewhat scandalous election campaign featured many statements, promises, and declared intentions that were heavily criticized by many in the United States and around the world. Trump has repeatedly changed his views on various elements of the political agenda (e.g. migration and health care) (Lieven, 2016). As a result, now that Trump is elected President, there are concerns about what he is going to do and whether he will implement his controversial plans. On November 11, BBC News World published a feature story (Trump presidency, 2016), the main theme of which is to explain the key aspects of Trump’s political program and describe his expected actions as the President.
Two particular subjects described in the story are immigration and climate change. Concerning immigration, Trump had repeatedly announced that he would try to toughen immigration regulations, chase illegal immigrants out of the United States, and prohibit them from coming back (Bakker, Rooduijn, & Schumacher, 2016). His other initiatives included building a wall on the Mexican border to prevent illegal migration and bar Muslims from certain countries from entering the United States (Lieven, 2016). Recently, Trump issued a 10-point plan on immigration which confronts the executive orders written by Obama in 2014 when hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants were granted temporary legal status. It is noted by specialists that Trumps’ immigration plans may be too costly and complicated. The reason is that there are about 11 million illegal immigrants in the United Space. Judging from the number, urgent dealing with all these people, detecting them and deporting, would overload the judicial system (Trump presidency, 2016). Immigration is one of the major global connection factors as it is associated with cultural diversity and labor regulations.
Another issue featured in the story about Trump’s intentions is global climate change. Trump has repeatedly expressed his doubts about scientific data behind the notion of global climate change. Also, he has expressed his intention to get the United States out of the Paris Agreement (Reay, 2016). The reasons, according to Trump, are that the Agreement is “bad for US business” and gives “foreign bureaucrats control over how much energy we [the United States] use” (Trump presidency, 2016, para. 87). In 2012, Trump publically said that global warming was invented by the Chinese to damage the Unites States’ manufacturing competitiveness. Later, however, he said it had been a joke (Nisbet, 2016). Although it is recognized that terminating the United States’ participation in the Paris Agreement would be procedurally complicated to accomplish, delegates from 200 countries have said since the election that they are prepared to work under the Agreement without the participation of the United States (Trump presidency, 2016). Climate change initiatives are one of the major global connection factors, too. In this field, many countries have been extensively cooperating based on the acknowledgment that global efforts are required to save the planet.
The concerns of the public and academics about Trump’s upcoming presidency are associated with risks to various global connections. Trump’s position and views were repeatedly described as “isolationist” (Mendelsohn & Pollard, 2016). He calls upon Americans to cut off many global initiatives and focus on America’s internal and pragmatic issues. Particular global connections that can be identified as associated with Trump’s political program are cultural diversity, migration, and climate change initiatives.
Cultural diversity is an important factor of the modern-world society. The humanity is facing global issues nowadays, which can only be addressed through global cooperation. This cooperation is only possible when people and societies of different backgrounds learn how to understand each other and work for mutual benefits. Such learning requires the environment of cultural diversity. Therefore, cultural diversity is required for successful global cooperation. However, the diversity of the United States’ society can be undermined by the Trump’s migration plans.
Toughening immigration regulations and chasing illegal immigrants out can result in poorer diversity and reduce the United States’ abilities for global cooperation. Also, imposing additional limitations and complications on the immigration to the United States can affect the country’s labor market. Since the United States are the biggest economy in the world, modifications in its market can have global effects.
Another possible reason for the abilities of the United States for global cooperation to be reduced is the newly elected leader’s partial denial of climate change. Climate change initiatives are one of the main global activities of the modern worlds. They are based on the understanding that man-made factors affect the climate of Earth and can lead to disastrous repercussions, and the efforts of just one or two countries will never be enough to prevent the adverse effects of climate change. Many countries have demonstrated outstanding global cooperation in recognition of climate change dangers. Now that there is a possibility that the United States will no longer take part in this cooperation, there are threats to both the international position of the country and the climate change initiatives.
References
Bakker, B., Rooduijn, M., & Schumacher, G. (2016). Donald Trump’s support comes from two distinct groups: authoritarians who oppose immigration and anti-establishment voters. Web.
Lieven, A. (2016). Clinton and Trump: Two faces of American nationalism. Survival, 58(5), 7-22.
Mendelsohn, J., & Pollard, M. (2016). Americans are united… in dissatisfaction with their choices: Analysis of the American electorate at the start of the 2016 general election. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation.
Nisbet, M. (2016). Climate denial’s Trump card. New Scientist, 230(3077), 18-19.
Reay, D. (2016). Climate science: Denialism deciphered. Nature, 538(7623), 34-35.
Trump presidency: Your questions answered. (2016). Web.