The League of Nations was founded on Jan. 10, 1920, some 100 years ago, based on lessons learned from the horrors of World War I. The group was the first international organization that pursued world peace and international cooperation as its philosophy.
The League of Nations fundamentally overturned diplomacy in the 19th century in which imperialist powers took advantage of their military might to compete in expanding their territories. It formed the basis for diplomacy in the 20th century that pursued global peace.
There is no denying that the League of Nations was a fragile framework seeing as the United States, which still retained isolationist policies, did not join the organization. The Great Depression that began in 1929 divided the world, and the league failed to prevent the outbreak of World War II.
Still, the United Nations took over the league’s philosophy and missions because of its universal values. Arms reductions, no wars, collective security, international cooperation and the free economy comprise the core of these values.
The most important point was that individual countries should not only pursue their own interests but act in the spirit of contributing to the benefit of the world. U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, who advocated the foundation of the League of Nations, proclaimed that it represented “the principle of justice to all peoples and nationalities, and their right to live on equal terms of liberty and safely with one another, whether they be strong or weak.”
A century later, the principle of international cooperation faces another challenge. The epicenter of the problem is U.S. President Donald Trump. A U.S. presidential election in which Trump’s politics will come under scrutiny will be held in November 2020.
When Trump was sworn in three years ago, he declared that the United States would distance itself from internationalism saying, “With every decision and every action, we are now putting America first.”
Globalization led by the United States helped expand the world economy. However, economic disparities in U.S. society widened. Workers are being forced to endure low wages and drug addiction has become a social problem.
The trend of viewing undocumented immigrants with hostility is growing, giving rise to nationalism. White supremacism, which calls for the expulsion of immigrants, is an example of such trends.
President Trump, who believes that the deterioration of the quality of American lives and the divisions in U.S. society are the results of the country’s exhaustion under internationalism, pointed the finger at trade and U.S. alliances with other countries.
The Trump government has imposed high tariffs on imports from China, creating a trade war with the country which is the United States’ largest trading partner and with which it suffers the highest trade deficit. Washington barely avoided imposing high tariffs on almost all imports from China.
Trump argues that a massive volume of cheap imports from China has deprived Americans of job opportunities. However, the U.S. economy’s prosperity is due to free trade. Protectionism runs counter to that.
Alliances with many other countries spanning the world are the core of U.S.-led stability and world order. Successive U.S. administrations regarded its alliances with other countries as assets that the country should invest in to protect world security.
However, Trump regards these factors as costs that should be slashed. The president insists that its allies should foot the bill for the United States stationing its troops in their territories and has threatened to withdraw troops from any ally that refuses to increase their budget allocations to cover such expenses. Such an attitude taken by Trump has lowered international confidence in the United States.
This raises the question of whether the United States would again attach importance to world order if Trump were to be replaced as president?
His rivals, mainly those seeking Democratic Party nomination as a presidential candidate, are emphasizing the importance of free trade and U.S. alliances with other countries. However, the diplomatic policies these Democrats are pursuing have many things in common with Trump’s foreign policies.
Many of these Democrats are prudent about intervening in armed conflicts and one of them says U.S. alliances with other countries are not a charity. They prioritize domestic issues such as the economy and medical services over diplomacy.
Even if Trump were to be defeated in the upcoming presidential election, the United States would inevitably distance itself from the international arena if a leftist Democrat who pursues populism were to be elected.
Zbigniew Brzezinski, who served as a national security adviser in the administration of President Jimmy Carter, warned three years ago of “coming turmoil in the nation and the world” after Trump was elected president.
The Trump government killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani in a Jan. 3 drone strike in Baghdad, Iraq. Trump’s impulsive decision has thrown the Middle East situation into chaos.
While the United States has been acting selfishly, Russia is conducting diplomacy with an iron fist. The behavior of these superpowers has shaken the world, and the international situation is falling into turmoil as Brzezinski predicted.
The question is how to build a new realistic world order responding to changes in a power balance between the United States, China and Russia while preventing international cooperation from weakening.
The world faces common challenges in the 21st century. Countries should strengthen international cooperation they have built up to tackle nuclear arms reductions, international terrorism, poverty and global warming.
International rules need to be worked out to counter cyber attacks and the use of weapons operated by artificial intelligence, which pose a new threat to the world. This cannot be achieved without the participation of the U.S., China and Russia, which are major military powers.
The facilitation of international trade and the expansion of investments are important. However, unless nations cooperate in seeking ways to protect workers’ interests, economic disparities in each country could widen.
Japan, Europe, Canada, Australia and other middle power democracies that cooperate with the U.S. have benefited the most from internationalism. They should urge Washington to correct its policy direction. They need to exercise leadership over global challenges and show their presence to convince the U.S. that the country needs its allies.
