Biden takes over divided America, rancorous world

By Habib Aruna

Senator Joe Biden Jr, the Vice President to one of the most famous figures on earth, Barack Obama, will assume office as the 46th President of the United States today. He will lead a divided country and a world that has never been so enmeshed in crisis since the end of the Second World War.

Biden will not only be taking over a country whose people are largely divided and partisan, but a country where more than one-third of its population has moved to the far-right due to the incendiary rhetoric of outgoing President Donald Trump.

In truth, Trump did not hide where he was heading when he took over four years ago. He, indeed, told the world when he was sworn in, that he was less interested in a global space where the United States is called upon to solve every problem, which he described as unfavourable to the interests of his country.

In his inaugural address, he never minced words by proclaiming his ‘America First’ doctrine.

This America first policy saw America increasingly isolated from its traditional role of promoting world peace and security; even traditional western allies were given less recognition when crucial decisions were made in Washington; NATO members were told point-blank to start contributing more to the organisation or risk being sidetracked; citizens of some Muslim countries were summarily banned from visiting the United States. Trump led his country to leave the Paris Agreement on Climate.

Nowhere was Trump’s unconventional attempt to circumvent the norms and values of the country felt than in the political sphere.

My concern as a close watcher and a more than casual observer of American politics is predicated on Trump’s attitude on the campaign trail, chiefly among them was when he was talking down on people of colour and disabilities, boasting that he could shoot ‘somebody and nothing will happen’, where he was fueling right-wing conspiracy instead of uniting the country; his consistent refusal to show his tax returns and his well-reported campaign to delegitimize the election of Barack Obama, that he was born in Kenya, when in actual fact, the 44th president was born in Hawaii.

It was, therefore, not so much a surprise to me when he started his shenanigans. Within six months of taking the power of office, it was crystal clear that most of his actions were geared towards solidifying the hold of the far-right groups within his party and not in uniting the country. He was less prepared to abide by democratic norms and values. Values that are based on a constitution that has become enviable for centuries and which made the United States the envy of the world and “the shining city on the hill”.  Trump was indeed ready to brush aside all these noble traditions and cut corners to have his way.

And if you think the American system was rock solid to be immune from this idiocy, events of later years proved the world wrong. Even though the country’s founding fathers were pragmatic enough to deflate the powers of the president by putting in place mechanisms to checkmate and override abuse of powers, they never contemplated the emergence of a dictator at the White House who is ready to circumvent all norms and values for his selfish interest. But Trump’s incessant abuse of power led to his first impeachment when he was accused of using the White House to influence a foreign power, Ukraine, to investigate his political rival, Biden.

Some thought it was a joke when Trump said before, during and after November 2020 presidential election that he won’t accept the result if it was not favourable. Rather than accept the result, Trump and his allies were fanning the embers of hate and division; the leader of the free world was telling his supporters not to accept the result and to go to town and stop Biden from being sworn in.

For sure, this was the mindset of most of Trump supporters as engineered by the president himself and the culmination of which led to the insurrection at the Capitol on the 6th of January.

The most symbolic feature of American democracy is the peaceful transfer of power, which has been in existence for decades. This is what makes the system a unique brand and most copied in human history. And one of the ways to heal the country is for the Senate to bar Trump from ever holding public office again.

As Biden takes oath of office, he should try and unite the country, heal the many wounds that Trump inflicted on the country; restore decency, normalcy and constitutionalism. It would certainly not be an easy job, given the visible divisions in the country and many challenges (the pandemic, economy and climate change), but the new president and the team he has assembled are up to the task of bringing the needed change.

And as the world again looks up to American leadership, which has been lacking since the emergence of Trump, because of her unique position in the world, the Biden presidency would have to diffuse tension in many of the trouble spots across the globe and embrace multilateralism that was the bedrock of the Obama administration. It is gratifying that he has promised to rejoin the Paris Climate Accord, the Iranian Nuclear Agreement and other agreements geared towards maintaining world peace and security.

• Aruna, a journalist, writes from Ikeja.