The end of Trumpistan?

 

I can’t help but feel guilty about the Iran war.

Namely, because it’ll be the downfall of Donald Trump. I’m almost sure it will. Trust me (I keep telling myself), it will.

It will be his downfall, not because he decided to bomb a country without the support of his allies or Congress or the American people. Sadly, it all comes down to the price of gas.

Inflation, in any form, appears to be the one thing that persuades the American public to rise up with the proverbial (or perhaps real) pitch forks. Unless it affects our pocket book, most of us pay little attention to international affairs. How much did the average American (or Canadian) think about the war in Afghanistan? Very little, and in the end, our international intervention didn't work, as the Taliban is back in power.

The Iran War appears to be headed in a similar direction, where a dominant military power cannot defeat a smaller nation whose will cannot be crushed.

Trump came to power claiming that every previous president was either incompetent or a sucker. The invasion of Iraq was a disaster. The Afghanistan war ended horribly. But here he is, second year into his term, already in a quagmire.

It would be delightful if it wasn’t so disastrous.

For Iranians, it’s the end of any chance of regime change. From the looks of it, the war only strengthened the position of the Islamic Republic. If change were to happen, it would have had to come from within, but the clear enemy has now become the US. How to convince the Iranian people that the American way of life can offer more freedom when its leader, acting like a unhinged dictator, is destroying their homeland?

It’s clear that Iran has only one goal at this point: survival. When a country is fighting an existential battle, it can never be truly defeated.

In Ukraine, Russia has been trying to exert control for over four years. The more Russia destroys, the more Ukrainians dig in – fighting even harder, now sending deadly drones deep into Russia.

Putin, if he had had any advisors who dared speak truth, should have played the long game and used coercion instead of force. Take time to manipulate the political system, finding a like-minded dictator to gain control. Like in Belarus, stifle the opposition through manipulation of the media and institutions. Control a fervent few, like MAGA controls the Republican Party, and you can eventually control the entire country.

This may be all it takes for dictators to control the world. I would have never thought it could be so simple and easy until I saw what Trump is doing to a country that claims to lead the free world.

His crucial mistake, to attack Iran, would be laughable if it wasn’t so sad. It’s the beginning of the end for Trumpistan, rest assured (please, let it be). As you can tell, I’m a little less sure of myself than I used to be.

Let me tell you a story.... I grew up in the 1990s, when democracy was spreading like wildflowers throughout the world. It was "the end of history", as described by political scientist, Francis Fukuyama, when the Cold War ended –  and we all believed him. The world appeared to be turning the tide when it came to hard-fought political freedoms, with many countries like Ukraine becoming independent and democratic. Who could have ever imagined, that only a few decades later, the two Cold War superpowers are now both working to destroy the international world order.

We may have forgotten that history has no end and, sadly, tends to repeat itself.

Still, I’m hopeful, we're seeing the political end (fingers crossed) of at least one dictator.