WHAT A TRUMP VICTORY MEANS FOR THE THIRD WORLD

 *WHAT A TRUMP VICTORY MEANS FOR THE GLOBAL SOUTH.*

By

Prosper Ahabwe 

Lawyer, Macroeconomic Analyst

WHAT A TRUMP VICTORY MEANS FOR THE GLOBAL SOUTH:

When the Anti-Globalization crusader successfully sailed through the 2016 elections with his MAGA Agenda, he promised to put America first and worked to make good his promise. As his first mission, he launched the construction of a wall on the Mexican border to stop the flow of illegal immigrants. Donald subsequently started a trade war with China including the banning of Tiktok in the United States.

Trump went ahead to suspend the US Government commitments to international bodies. For example in 2020, Trump scrapped off the American commitment of USD 500 Million fund to the World Health Organization (WHO), at a time when WHO needed the money to boost its efforts in the war against the COVID19 Pandemic.

The Anti-globalization agenda has reached a point where the Global South nations fear they are losing out on the benefits of ‘befriending’ the United States.

It may be rightly argued that Trump’s actions are not isolated but rather  in association with the rise of ‘Trumpism’ that is backed by the ‘losers’ of globalization in the United States. These ‘losers’ attribute, reasonably, their loss and misery to the effects of globalization and thus back anyone who takes up efforts against globalization. 

According to economic analyst Linda Yueh, as the US imports of manufactured goods increased (thanks to globalization and free trade), mid-skilled jobs in the manufacturing sector started disappearing. (So she writes in her book; What Would The Great Economists Do?).

The disillusionment that faced a great number of individuals in the US is what fuelled tensions against globalization and created a formidable force which trusted Donald Trump as their commander against the growing beast that was feasting on their jobs and economic success. The success that these anti-globalization forces enjoyed was partly exhibited when Trump pulled the US out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Ofcourse the citizens of the biggest economy (US) felt cheated out by what would be the largest trade community. 

Important to note; Trump is not alone in his anti-globalization agenda. His nemesis Joe Biden seems to have sub-consciously continued Trump’s agenda. Forexample presiding over the final pulling out of Afghanistan by the US in 2021, and publicly stating that it had never been Washington’s intention to build the Afghan nation but to fight its enemies.

Biden subsequently scrapped some countries such as Uganda off the African Growth Opportunities Act (AGOA), citing human rights violations notably gay rights. While these actions had their own significant reasons, they acted as a push for the anti-globalization agenda. Could we say that President Biden was bowing to the Anti-Globalization pressure?

In the face of the pending November elections by which Donald Trump may reclaim the oval office, African countries have got to worry.

Given that Third World Economies especially in Africa normally count on trade and investment incentives from the great economies for growth sustainability, should they worry about the American election as much an American citizen could? Because a second victory for Donald Trump is a slap in their economic face.