How the World Can Push Back: The Playbook to Counter Trump's Second Term

[Celerity]

As Trump tears up democratic norms, foreign governments must counter his playbook with bold, coordinated resistance.

https://www.socialeurope.eu/how-the-world-can-push-back-the-playbook-to-counter-trumps-second-term



US President Donald Trump has shown a callous disregard for the checks and balances that have long protected American democracy. As the self-described “king” makes a momentous power grab, much of the world watches anxiously, aware that his administration’s growing illegality and corruption is eroding not only the US Constitution but what remains of the post-1945 international order. A return to great-power spheres of interest looks increasingly likely.

But foreign governments, businesses, and civil-society groups have more power than they think in the face of a revisionist America. They can take five steps to create external checks and balances on the Trump administration, and on anti-democratic forces more broadly. Anti-democratic forces around the world cast a long shadow, but with a boost of courage and the strength of solidarity, pro-democracy coalitions can come together to fight for the light.

The first step is to unite and make as much noise as possible. Would-be autocrats depend on divide-and-rule tactics, maximizing fear by convincing individuals and governments that they alone are on the chopping block. Imagine if all governments in the Americas (with a few exceptions, like Argentina) denounced Trump’s designs on the Panama Canal and Canada, loudly and repeatedly, and refused to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. Indeed, they could collectively rename it the Gulf of the Americas.

Another option is for all the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and European Union governments to issue a joint statement repudiating Trump’s claim that Ukraine started the war with Russia, instead insisting on the truth: Russia violated Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s 57 members could collectively introduce a censure resolution in the United Nations General Assembly condemning any suggestion of expelling all Palestinians from Gaza, as Trump casually suggested last month, while reaffirming a collective commitment to a Palestinian state.

snip

[ck4829]

1. Nice, but while foreign countries can run interference, the true resistance must come from us

From Gene Sharp's From Dictatorship to Democracy on the idea of hoping for foreign saviors, page 7:

International pressures can be very useful, however, when they are supporting a powerful internal resistance movement. Then, for example, international economic boycotts, embargoes, the breaking of diplomatic relations, expulsion from international organizations, condemnation by United Nations bodies, and the like can assist greatly. However, in the absence of a strong internal resistance movement such actions by others are unlikely to happen.

https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/126900/8008_FDTD.pdf

[Celerity]

2. Yes, of course the main agents of change (to remove MAGA) will have to come from within the US, but this article is

more about external resistance and some possible mechanisms and actions needed to help shield other nations from Trump's horrific actions on a global basis.

[Captain Zero]

3. Ok. So what can we do here?

I am buying Canadian Club whiskey for one.
It's good stuff. Even if asshole tariffs it it will still be affordable.

One suggestion the article had was to make it well known that RUSSIA INVADED UKRAINE. That is the truth. Trump is lying to state anything other than that. We can all spread the word on that wherever we can.

Maybe others below can pick one/two things from the article that we can modify and do here in the U.S.

#SignalGate

[ck4829]

5. Those are excellent suggestions and we will definitely need to do more

It's not that it's not valuable or "there's nothing that can be done", it's that we need to overwhelm them between now and November next year.

We need to advocate for jury nullification for any wacko Republican laws - this will hinder the regime's ability to inflict punishments.

We need to also get to the soul of the matter in many regards. Attack the fallacy that billionaires or just rich people in general are smarter or better than everyone else... this is a key part of how we got here. Something I've noticed is that "argumentum ad crumenam" is getting talked about a little bit more. Search "argumentum ad..." on Bing or DuckDuckGo, crumenam is coming up, it used to be nowhere on those dropdowns.

[malaise]

4. Good read

Rec