By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Donald Trump’s knock down, defeat, and disgrace by voters injects life back into international organisations the American president has crippled in the past four years in his streak for vain swagger to grease his ego with global anguish.
Joe Biden – who will be sworn in as U.S. president on January 20, 2021 – is an international player who says he will not follow in the footsteps of Trump to dismantle multilateralism. Biden knows and says that America cannot go it alone.
Therefore, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala will become the director general of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), since Trump is the main stumbling block to her appointment.
The Guardian (UK) reports that she has “[secured] the overwhelming backing of the WTO’s 164 members.” Her supporters include the European Union (EU), a block of 27 members, China, and Australia.
Okonjo-Iweala, though born in Nigeria, has from her teenage years lived in the U.S., where she attended Harvard and MIT, and worked for the World Bank for 25 years during which she rose to the post of managing director.
She has American citizenship and there is nothing in her to suggest she will work against American interest at the WTO, which is based in Geneva. She will rather strike a balance to protect the interest all nations, including the U.S., her country.
Rejection of Trumpism
Trump is only being Trump, the staller who throws a spanner in the works of anything good, in order to create discord and attract attention to himself, even if it is bad publicity in his own universe where he alone occupies centre stage.
His disgrace at the ballot box, handed him by fellow citizens, a referendum on his presidency which rejects his second term bid, despite his flagrant lies and multiple tricks, confirms that most Americans know he does not care for them nor for country.
Trump has abused the bully pulpit of the Oval Office to orchestrate a legion of domestic and foreign disruptions, all for vain glory. Take a few ones with greater global impact.
On July 7, 2020, he served notice to withdraw the U.S. (and its funding) from the World Health Organisation (WHO) in the middle of a coronavirus pandemic that has infected 50,892,469 million and killed 1,264,211 million worldwide and counting.
The withdrawal notice expires on July 6, 2021.
Even with the planned withdrawal from the WHO, the Trump administration insists on dictating the reform of the organisation. France and Germany both complained about U.S. “dominance” and withdrew from the talks.
Trump pulled out of the Paris Climate Accord, dismissing the science of climate change as a hoax, and has boosted industries spewing greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. to keep on polluting the environment.
He dismissed the relevance of the United Nations. He undermined the WTO’s highest dispute-resolution forum, the Appellate Body, by blocking the nomination of new judges.
Trump relishes obstruction.
When he meets any situation, good or bad, he makes it worse; without providing a replacement – not counting the consequences to the U.S. or to other nations, not even allies.
Biden to overturn Tump’s policies
But, as CNN reports, “ … Biden has pledged to reassert the United States’ leadership role on the global stage through a series of day-one executive actions that would mark a drastic turn from outgoing President Donald Trump’s policies.”
A meeting the WTO general council had planned for November 9 to take a decision on Okonjo-Iweala’s appointment was cancelled.
Officials had been set to put her forward as the candidate most likely to attract a majority, after most countries expressed a preference for her over South Korea’s Trade Minister, Yoo Myung-hee.
The WTO said the meeting would be postponed until further notice, during which time it would continue undertaking consultations with delegations from countries around the world to pick a new leader.
“For reasons including the health situation and current events, delegations will not be in a position to take a formal decision on 9 November,” the WTO explained in a statement.
The Guardian quoted trade experts as saying that Biden defeating Trump in the election “may have led to countries calling for a delay in the WTO leadership race, with the aim of securing the Biden White House’s backing for Okonjo-Iweala after he takes charge in January.”