How Trump's Re-Election Could Affect the World

I love America. The land of free soda refills, the Appalachian mountains, Chik-Fil-A, the Magnolia Siloes, Cheetos, and The Office. Plus America saved Australia’s butt during WWII. So I love you guys, from rainy Bellingham in Washington State all the way through to sunny Tallahassee in the Panhandle. God bless America!

But some of you good folks are a tad cray cray and sometimes I feel like you need a friendly intervention once in a while (seriously friends, the metric system, it is not that hard!), especially when it comes to your dysfunctional political theatre/culture.

However, while many of my American friends love my theology, they sometimes wish I’d mind my own business about US politics.

But I would ask my critics to consider a few things.

First, thanks to the ubiquity of English, the entire Anglophone world is saturated in US news, politics, and debates. Seriously, I could not name one single member of the High Court of Australia, but I could probably name most of the Supreme Court justices on SCOTUS. I get more news about US sports than Aussie sports some days. We live in an American-centric media world. People in Singapore, New Zealand, South Africa, and Germany are able to access US news and political stories and they are everywhere.

Second, I visit the US regularly, two or three times a year, attending colleges, seminaries, and churches. Most of my subscribers are American and most of my twitter followers are American. I get more speaking invites in America than in Australia! So I feel like I drift in and out of the US world in a physical and virtual sense. I’m no expert on anything, but I think I’ve got a good grasp of what the people are talking about, who is who, and what the big debates are at the interface of Christianity and politics. I’ve got a better grip on US politics than most Americans would have on politics outside of America.

Third, what happens in the USA effects the whole world. Let me give you several examples of how Trump has or could have a negative impact on the wider world.

In the recent past, Trump’s election denial claim inspired similar election denialism by Myanmar and Brazil. Trump’s anti-democratic antics were replicated by other regimes to reject democratic processes. If American compromises the integrity of its Democratic system, then other nefarious actors will use that as an excuse to do the same in their countries too.

In addition, according to Freedom House Executive Vice President Nicole Bibbins Sedaca, Trump inspires anti-democratic populism.

You see populist leaders who have come to power through democratic means. And, you know, populist leaders - rather than responding to the concerns that they tap into in their societies, rather than creating good public policy, what they quite often do is sow further divisions in their country, undermine institutions and erode the very democracy that got them elected. And we see those trends happening in many places around the world.

I’d also point out that Russia is pro-Trump because Trump would cease US and perhaps NATO support for Ukraine and leave it to be devoured by Putin’s violent authoritarian machine.

One could also raise alarm at Trump’s environmental policies that would roll back initiatives to make the US economy more energy efficient and less of a polluter. Trump might well secure the US border, as America has the right to, but do it with a xenophobic ethos. Then there is the empowerment of Christian Nationalism which is injurious to a liberal democracy, the framework for preserving peace in a country of all faiths and none, where people live in relative harmony together. Moreover, Trump’s refusal to accept the 2020 election result meant that America’s reputation as a bastion of democracy, freedom, and the rule of law will be forever tarnished.

I don’t want to tell Americans how to be American, but, the world is watching and the world is not immune to what happens in the US. That is why I take an interest in American political discourse and why I feel compelled to exercise my opinions on US politics and religion. Opinions offered in a spirit of friendship and which Americans, as free citizens, are welcome to affirm, disagree, or ignore.

Now you understand why, in Jesus and the Powers, N.T. Wright and I focus a lot on Christianity and politics in the US context and how it effects the rest of the world.