“The future belongs to Patriots, not to globalists”. – President of the USA, Donald Trump
I listened closely to the US President’s address at the 74th UN General Assembly. The above in quotes caught my attention. It obviously spells out, clearly, President Trump’s world view.
I am sure that one can be both a patriot and a globalist, and I don’t believe the two concepts are exclusionary. I love my country, but my country would not exist without our planet, our globe.
While we pursue our national interest, we must also subsume our national interest to global coexistence, peace, security and environmental sustainability.
Without global cooperation, there would have been no Climate Change Agreement. Without global cooperation there would have been no MDGs. Without globalism, there would be no Sustainable Development Goals. Without global cooperation there would be no Nuclear non-proliferation treaty and many more.
The Nazis could be said to be patriotic based on their warped view of national interest at the time. The Khmer Rouge were patriots based on their blood-thirsty definition of Cambodia’s national interest. Apartheid South Africa was the definition of patriotism for those who believed the national interest was served by a race segregated society.
In any case the platform on which the Trumpian doctrine of patriotism over globalism was delivered yesterday, was a global one, and is one created by the world’s greatest global institution, the UN.
John Dramani Mahama
Accra