On Sept. 19, Trump gave an unusually presidential speech to the UN. Aside from a hilarious “rocket man” jab at Kim Jong-un, Trump primarily focused on a unified tone against authoritarianism and terrorism. Trump openly took a stand against regimes such as those of Bashar al-Assad and Kim Jong-un, while simultaneously supporting the rights of sovereign nations to be free to decide how they wish to be governed. He even went so far as to call for the global community of sovereign nations to stand united against rogue regimes and injustice in the hopes of securing everlasting peace and an end to current conflicts such as economic unrest in South America and political instability in the middle east.
The main topic of his speech was denouncing and attacking specific nations who have disrespected the wishes of their people by enforcing cruel and inhumane measures against them by stripping them of their rights. Trump outlined the importance of standing with the people of Venezuela, Cuba, Syria and North Korea in their struggle against tyrannical dictatorships who have suppressed the wishes of their people for years. In the cases of Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea, Trump blamed the economic failures of “faithfully implemented socialism” and the authoritarian structure that we have seen all too often be implemented under communism.
In regard to socialism and economic viability, it is a toss-up. In some instances such as Norway and Denmark where the system is mixed between strategic government ownership and the open market, it has worked. However, on larger scales, such as the U.S.S.R. where the socialist economic system was fully and purely implemented, it has been proven to fail and lead to massive shortages for the countries involved as seen by the collapse of all soviet economies towards the end of the cold war.
However, Trump is right to take issue with communism. Aside from the economic burden that comes with the system, the greater threat to humanity is the human toll that this ideology has caused. Communism in practice has proven to be one of the most deadly ideologies in history as seen in the countless fatalities attributed to its name such as The Great Leap Forward which is responsible for 45 million deaths and multiple great purges across Europe and eastern Asia which attributed to roughly three to four million deaths. Not to mention, the soviet concentration camp styled labor facilities and gulags which at one point housed over four million prisoners.
North Korea is an example of one of the failed communist nations which Trump singled out in his address, though he went too far by saying that if North Korea attacks us or any of our allies that “we will have no choice but to totally destroy [it].” Trump’s way of tackling the North Korea problem is one of the most likely ways in which World War III will start, an all-out war with North Korea on a thermonuclear scale. Rather than trying to out-build North Korea in nuclear arsenals or threats of destruction, what we need to do is fight a war similar to that of the cold war, a war of culture.
The way to get North Korea to destroy itself is not with bombs or bullets but rather with hearts and minds. Find a way for the Korean people to rise up against their oppressive government and allow them to free themselves while also sparing surrounding nations from any attacks which may come from a US assault.
Trump also called for the UN to begin the process of restoring political freedoms to the people of Venezuela and stabilizing their failing currency in order to de-escalate political unrest in the area. As well as attempting to unify our allies against terrorism calling for each member nation of the UN to be more involved in military actions and spend their fair share in funding. He provided specifics on the refugee crisis and how he plans to fix the situation by keeping refugees as close to their home nations as possible and having them play a crucial part in the rebuilding process of their nations while also providing them economic aid.
However, there is still much to be desired when dealing with Trump. His speech went off the rails at times and had poor transitions between his topics, leaving little to no room for explanations on smaller issues. He failed to go into detail about crucial parts of his Iranian nuclear treaty replacement and brushed over the US military spending increase which brings the military budget up to 700 billion dollars.
Overall, I think that this was one of, if not the most, respectable speeches that Trump has delivered. He tackled large issues such as the Maduro administrations power grab, North Korea’s increased aggression and the refugee crisis in the Middle East. The best thing that I saw from his speech was when he called on the UN to do more, for member nations to pay their fair share, take responsibility in dealing with foreign affairs and to reform broken systems within the UN.