And why the world, especially the EU, must now declare itself independent of the United States.
UN’s 80th anniversary
This year, the United Nations celebrates the 80th anniversary of its founding. The UN was formed after the scourge of the Second World War, in which 70 to 85 million people were killed and many countries were destroyed. That war came on the heels of the First World War, which also killed between 15 and 22 million people.
After the Second World War, especially after the use of nuclear weapons by the United States, which marked a turning point in the history of warfare that could result in the end of civilisation as we know it, humanity decided to move away from the era of empires and big power politics and usher in a new era of peace, freedom and cooperation. These were the principles enshrined in the UN Charter. The United States played a leading role in the establishment of both the League of Nations and the United Nations.
With the establishment of the United Nations, many nations hoped that it would mark a turning point in world history and would not repeat the mistakes of the League of Nations. At the same time, there was a great deal of public optimism about an era of universal peace and prosperity, combined with greater freedoms and equality throughout the world.
As we move away from the Second World War, we see the erosion of those ideals and the rise of new hegemonic powers. Now, many people have come to believe that we are repeating the mistakes of the 1930s and the early 1940s.
The world is moving towards greater disunity, nuclear rearmament and the pursuit of narrow national interests at the expense of universal peace. This is why the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the establishment of the United Nations is of great significance and provides an opportunity to remind us of the horrors of world wars and inspire us with a renewed determination to put an end to wars forever.
Gaza genocide
In retaliation for the terrorist attacks by Hamas on 7 October 2023, Israeli forces carried out an unprecedented genocide in Gaza, killing and maiming tens of thousands (according to some estimates, hundreds of thousands) of Palestinians, mainly women and children. They have turned almost the whole of the Gaza Strip into rubble, and have displaced over two million Palestinians, most of them multiple times.
Israeli forces have killed at least 248 Palestinian journalists and more than 500 aid workers, alongside at least 1,500 health workers. They have destroyed most hospitals and all universities and schools, killing most of their staff. These are unprecedented crimes. Israel has killed more journalists in the past two years than were killed during the First and Second World Wars, and the Korean and Vietnamese wars combined.
As Senator Bernie Sanders pointed out, ‘Many legal experts have now concluded that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. The International Association of Genocide Scholars concluded that “Israel’s policies and actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide.” The Israeli human rights groups B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel have reached the same conclusion, as have international groups like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.’ (1)
Growing trend in recognising a Palestinian state
In view of over seventy years of illegal occupation of Palestinian lands and the construction of a growing number of illegal settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, culminating in the Gaza genocide, more and more countries have decided to recognise a Palestinian state on the 80th anniversary of the establishment of the United Nations, with the number of those that have already done so exceeding 159.
Therefore, for many reasons, the celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the establishment of the United Nations in New York were of supreme international significance and demanded serious and sober speeches, marking this important landmark in recent history. Many participants at UNGA were anxious to learn what the president of the United States had to see on these weighty issues.
United Nations Secretary-General’s speech at the General Assembly
The proceedings of the UNGA started with a speech by the United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres. (2) In his speech, he stressed the importance of the occasion and the steps that world leaders must take to prevent a global catastrophe. In a part of his speech, he said:
“Eighty years ago, in a world scorched by World War II, leaders made a choice:
Cooperation over chaos, law over lawlessness, peace over conflict. That choice gave birth to the United Nations.
Eighty years on, we confront a choice again: What kind of world do we choose to build together?
We must choose peace rooted in international law.
We must choose human dignity and human rights.
We must choose climate justice.
We must choose to put technology at the service of humanity.
And we must choose to strengthen the UN for the 21st century.
Now is the time to choose, and it is not enough to know what the right choices are; we must make them.”
He went on to say that the U.N.’s founders faced the same questions 80 years ago that we face today, but that the choice of peace or war, law or lawlessness, cooperation or conflict, is “more urgent, more intertwined, more unforgiving.” He rightly warned: “We have entered in an age of reckless disruption and relentless human suffering. The pillars of peace and progress are buckling under the weight of impunity, inequality and indifference.”
The UN Secretary General used his strongest words against Israel’s actions in Gaza, saying that the scale of death and destruction is the worst in his nearly nine years as secretary-general, and that “nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.”
This was a speech which stressed the importance of the occasion and the need for a new beginning in international relations.
President Donald Trump’s speech at the General Assembly
Guterres’s speech was followed by President Trump’s speech. (3) Trump spoke for 57 minutes, instead of the 15 minutes allotted to him, which is a sign of his disregard for rules.
The first thing that the president said was to complain about the malfunctioning of the escalator and the teleprompter. Ignoring the UN Secretary General, the president of the General Assembly and many dignitaries present in the hall, Trump started his speech with the following words: “Hello, Madam First Lady. Thank you very much for being here, and Madam President, Mr. Secretary-General, First Lady of the United States, distinguished delegates, ambassadors, and world leaders.”
At the international podium, addressing world leaders, he attacked his predecessor, President Joe Biden, in the strongest and most insulting terms. He referred to him nine times, directly or indirectly, accusing him of leading “the most corrupt, incompetent administration in history.”
A great part of his address concentrated on his own alleged achievements. He highlighted his administration’s counter-cartel mission in the waters around Latin America. It should be noted that his activities on the high seas have included attacking three Venezuelan boats, over 1,000 miles away from US shores, killing 11 in one and fewer numbers in the other two, accusing them of drug trafficking without any evidence. Even if they were involved in drug trafficking, they should have been arrested and tried, not executed in international waters. These are serious crimes, with the US Navy acting as judge, jury and executioner on the high seas.
In addition to signalling absolute contempt for the US’s allies and for global institutions, Trump commanded other nations to cease combating climate change. He described what he called “the global warming hoax” and mass migration as the two key threats to international peace, security, and prosperity. He said that if other countries end immigration and green energy policies, they could turn their “failing” countries into enviable successes.
Despite the almost unanimous views of scientists about climate change and global warming, he called climate change “the greatest con job ever.” He claimed that UN predictions “were wrong”.
Apart from the fact that his assertions are not backed by science, he harmed US interests in trying to provide new technologies for the rest of the world, and enhanced China’s role as the front-runner in sponsoring clean energy.
In fact, since the start of his second term, Trump has cancelled much of the US’s policy support for clean energy and has withdrawn from international cooperation to address the climate crisis, leaving the climate community shellshocked.
While most European governments had stopped buying much cheaper Russian oil and gas and had instead bought much more expensive US products, he criticised their failure to completely “cut off” Russian energy products as “embarrassing”.
Addressing an assembly whose main mission is to strengthen and maintain peace, Trump threatened to unshackle the U.S. military from international law. He said, “Our military has increased substantially in size. We spent $2.5 trillion over the last four years on our military. We have the most powerful military anywhere in the world, and it’s not even close.”
He claimed that he had attracted the greatest amount of foreign investment to the United States. Again, returning to the issue of the incompetence of his predecessor, he said: “In four years of President Biden, we had less than $1 trillion of new investment into the United States. In just eight months since I took office, we have secured commitments and money already paid for $17 trillion. Think of it, four years less than a trillion, eight months, much more than $17 trillion is being invested in the United States and is now pouring in from all parts of the world… In my first term, I built the greatest economy in the history of the world. We had the best economy ever in the history of the world, and I’m doing the same thing again, but this time it’s actually much bigger and even better. The numbers far surpassed my record-setting first term.”
He again repeated his claim that he had ended seven conflicts, adding: “Likewise, in a period of just seven months, I have ended seven unendable wars. They said they were unendable. You’re never gonna get them solved. Some were going for 31 years, two of them, 31, think of it, 31 years. One was 36 years, one was 28 years. I ended seven wars.” For these great achievements, he said, “Everyone says that I should get the Nobel Peace Prize for each one of these achievements.”
From the UN podium, he criticised the UN, questioning its purpose, and accused it of funding the migration crisis. He said the organisation needs to change and move away from the principles on which it was founded. “Not only is the UN not solving the problems it should, too often, it is actually creating new problems for us to solve.”
Without providing any evidence, he accused the United Nations of funding an assault on Western countries and their borders, adding, “The UN is supposed to stop invasions, not create them and not finance them.”
He insulted all European countries, accusing them of facilitating an “invasion” of Western countries, adding that the continent is in “serious trouble” over migration.
He particularly insulted Britain and London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, saying: “I am looking at London. It has a terrible mayor, a terrible, terrible mayor. It has been so changed, so changed. Now they want to go to Sharia law.”
Trump’s administration has cut UN funds, sanctioned many members of important UN organisations, such as the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court, has withdrawn the United States from many vital UN bodies, such as WHO, UNHRC, and UNESCO. The US has constantly undermined the United Nations, refused a visa to the head of the Palestinian Authority whose people have been subjected to an unprecedented genocide but spread the red carpet for the perpetrator of that genocide who has been indicted as a war criminal by the world’s highest criminal court.
Needless to say, he proposed no solution for ending the genocide in Gaza and merely demanded that remaining Israeli hostages must be released. They would have been released long ago, if Netanyahu had not violated the ceasefire agreement that President Trump himself had proposed and Hamas had agreed to.
Many American commentators have spoken of their embarrassment at Trump’s rambling speech. However, at such a critical time in world history, when mankind is facing daunting and maybe existential threats, most people expect more from an American president who commands the world’s most powerful armed forces. This total disconnect from reality by a man in his position is dangerous.
Time for the world to declare independence from the United States
Maybe the time has come for the world, especially the European countries, to admit that the emperor has no clothes, declare their independence from the United States and find collective responses to global problems. The solutions must not be based only on Western interests, but should also consider the Global South. With the current policies pursued by the United States, Europe and their adversaries, the world is heading for a devastating war.
For the first time since the Second World War, the European space is a theatre of a devastating proxy war between NATO and Russia. Apart from massive death and destruction in Ukraine and Gaza, things can get out of hand and result in the Third World War. The genocide in Gaza, which has turned most of the Arab and Islamic states against Israel and its Western backers, must end and a way to a lasting peace in the region must be found.
European leaders are well-placed to influence the course of both conflicts and bring peace and sanity to Europe and the Middle East. There is no need to act as blind followers of the Trump administration, even at the cost of their own survival.
The question is will they continue on the current hazardous course, or try to stop the slide towards another global conflagration. The enormity of the problems requires serious decisions, strong leadership and a universal outlook. They Europeans can be US’s allies and friends, but not its vassals. Otherwise, we are all doomed.
End Notes
