On Feb 11th, 2024, Donald Trump said that he had talked to a leader of a big European country. The European leader had asked about NATO protection. Trump claimed to have responded “If you don’t pay your NATO bill the US will not come to your rescue. In fact, we will rather encourage Russia to invade.”
Sadly, this statement captures the state of the world we live in, 2024. Chaos. Uncertainty. Fake news. Regardless of the level of truth in his comment, he has managed to create fear. Do we really need more fear and polarization in 2024? No!
Too many people live in fear today. Fear of violence. Fear of abuse. Fear of losing their jobs. Fear of crime. Fear of Government. Fear of not fitting in. Fear of climate change. Fear of new technology.
Fear of geopolitical tensions is on another level, as it is hard for the average person on the street to have an direct impact. A level of helplessness occurs, which makes the fear harder to handle. It is time to bring diplomacy back. To treat each other with respect. And to hold world leaders accountable for heir words and actions.
We are different in so many ways – ethnicity, gender, age, religion etc. But we do have a few things in common though. Like being humans, and that we all share this beautiful Planet Earth together.
Aside spreading fear, let’s assume that Trump intends to act accordingly to his statement. Then what could be a short-term “let me teach them a lesson-outburst”, could have a long-term impact on the current world order.
All countries are prisoners of geography. Just look at all the conflicts in the world today. The trust is gone. Every nation seem to be thinking “We don’t need that piece of land/ port/ river, but let’s secure it before somebody else does!” Land grabbing to secure and protect in case someone else attacks.
Geography favours America. Big land, diverse climat, natural resources. Protective deserts to the south, mountains in the north. Pretty safe. But many countries are not so lucky. Some countries are landlocked. Russia, for instance, does not have any deep-water harbors that are ice free all year round. Both these scenarios’ limits trade.
Furthermore, the past decades of globalization have made us dependent on each other to a larger extent. A recent example of this is the huti-rebel attacks in the Red Sea. Transportation costs have gone up, delivery times are longer as the vessels need to go around Africa, which also impacts the environment.
Because of the effects of globalization, my view is that we better stick together and diplomatically work through our issues. The more outbursts and hostile statements from state leaders, the more insecurity will arise.
All councious and compassionate leaders know that their words have impact on their employees, voters, citizens etc. And in difficult times, it is not only what you say as a leader, but how you you say it, your body language, your actions etc. You will get extra scrutinized, as the tension around the situation will make everyone in the audience on their toes, trying to ”read between the lines.”
Perhaps more world leaders should come to Global Heart Leaders for compassionate leadership training? 😉
