Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election could turn the ideological vector of Western powers from left-liberal to more centrist.
In recent years, the West has been dominated by a predominantly left-liberal ideological agenda, which has led to a prejudiced perception of Western values around the world. The influential publication The Economist states that there is a growing divergence in values between the West and the rest of the world, and Western values are no longer considered as progressive as they used to be.
Two decades ago, people in Asia and Africa admired Western equality, respect for human rights, and democracy, and were stunned that women in the West had the right to choose whom they married. The West brought progress, justice, and destroyed prejudice. And today, most of the top topics in the Western media cause misunderstanding and even ridicule among Indians, Arabs, or Africans. “A man in a woman’s dress has taken a position in the US Department of Energy”, “Can transgender people use women’s toilets and showers?” – such major social topics on the pages of the BBC, the New York Times and other popular publications are not perceived as progressive in the rest of the world, and especially in the Global South. It is difficult to be a moral guide for the whole world when Western values are not understood by everyone.
However, the actual “mono-majority” of Republicans in the Senate and the White House may slightly turn the dominant American and all Western political rhetoric in a more conservative direction. Although Trump’s conservatism is quite specific and borders on radicalism and populism, in many aspects his fellow party members declare the defense of family and national values and real freedom of speech, as opposed to leftist initiatives.
Many analysts argue that Trump’s victory was an electoral response to Kamala Harris and the Democrats’ leftist rhetoric about identity politics. And in the American segment of social media, Kamala Harris is being compared to a communist and memes with her in a communist image are being shared. This was facilitated by some of Harris’ statements about state control over prices, etc. American society is frankly tired of a system of values that is far from traditional, declared true before it has even been formed and constantly updated by increasingly leftist initiatives. It is significant that even the majority of Latinos voted for Trump, whom Democrats considered a minority in need of liberal identity rhetoric, while they chose pragmatic conservative ideas that they understand better.
It is likely that the new Trump administration may even reduce grant assistance from U.S. government foundations aimed at spreading left-liberal values abroad or even turn these organizations to the right. Statements coming from the Trump camp about replacing a number of officials with Republicans may also lead to the arrival of conservatives in the sphere that has done so much to spread leftist values in the modern world. Although the influence of private liberal foundations and Brussels-based foundations will remain prominent, Trump’s election could slow the evolution and current pace of spread of their worldview on a global scale.
It can be assumed that in the next few years, the United States will slow down the promotion of liberal values and focus on promoting more conservative rhetoric.
Author: Valeriy Maydanyuk