Further fueling those tensions with Iran are reports that Trump has been holding talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on how to contain the Iranian threat in the region. If Trump follows through on tearing up the nuclear deal with Iran, it can be expected that Iran will resume its nuclear program and step up its testing of ICBMs. Thus fulfilling the desires of Trump's hawkish cabal to strike at Iran.
Another potential flashpoint is Venezuela. Rex Tillerson, Trump's nominee for Secretary of State, last week announced that he would seek regime change against the incompetent and dysfunctional government in that South American country. In reply to Congressional questions concerning Trump's still-to-be confirmed appointment, Tillerson said: If confirmed, I would urge close cooperation with our friends in the hemisphere, particularly Venezuela's neighbors Brazil and Colombia, as well as multilateral bodies such as the OAS, to seek a negotiated transition to democratic rule in Venezuela .
A negotiated transition to democratic rule is euphemistic language for regime change. Such a view from Trump's would-be top diplomat marks a radical uptick in hostility towards the government of Nicolas Maduro compared with that under the Obama administration. The latter certainly slapped sanctions on Caracas and fomented internal political opponents to the socialist government. But Tillerson is now openly calling into question the legitimacy of the Venezuelan government, making unilateral demands for a transition to democratic rule.
Venezuela is where Tillerson's background as chief executive of Exxon Mobil becomes embroiled with American big business interests and personal vendetta. Exxon Mobil is the leading US oil giant, which Tillerson headed up until only a few weeks ago when Trump tapped him for the State Department. The company lost up to $16 billion in property and other assets when the Venezuelan government of Hugo Chavez, Maduro's predecessor, nationalized its holdings in 2007. An international court of arbitration ruled in 2014 that the country should compensate the oil company with $1.6 billion -- that is, only about 10 percent of what Exxon Mobil had sued for. Some industry insiders say Tillerson has never forgiven Venezuela for burning him.
If -- and it seems likely next week -- the US Senate finalizes Tillerson's confirmation as Secretary of State, a key issue to watch will be whether Washington slaps more sanctions on the Venezuelan government over and above those already imposed by the former Obama administration. Washington may also cut back on oil imports from the South American supplier, thus putting more economic pressure on an already fragile Venezuelan economy. And, as Tillerson replied during his Congressional hearings, a further provocative move would be for Washington to begin openly agitating for political transition to democratic rule in Venezuela.
With regards to Russia, this may seem an unlikely volatile international scenario, given that Donald Trump has frequently called for restoring normal relations with Moscow and Russian President Vladimir Putin in particular. But apart from personal overtures for more cordial communications, the overall geopolitical situation continues to deteriorate.
This week, German and Belgian troops of the US-led NATO military alliance took up new positions in Lithuania adjacent to Russian territory. They are part of a continuing NATO reinforcement in Poland and the Baltic states, which earlier this month saw thousands of American troops and hundreds of tanks and armored personnel carriers newly arrived from the US. This relentless buildup of NATO forces on Russia's border has been condemned by Moscow as an aggression. Yet, the NATO escalation continues apace with the hollow official justification that it is aimed at defending Europe from a Russian invasion.
Trump's Cabinet members, including his Defense Secretary James Mattis and new CIA chief Mike Pompeo, as well as Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson, have all expressed fulsome support for NATO's expansion in Eastern Europe. The same Cabinet members have tendentiously laid the blame for tensions on Russia for its alleged annexation of Crimea and incursion into Ukraine. Indeed, Tillerson has compared the territorial claims by China in the South China Sea to the taking of Crimea by Russia.
At least five international areas are fraught with incendiary tensions that are testing the Trump presidency's self-declared America First policy. In all of the areas, the Trump administration bears responsibility for further stoking apprehensions. If the new president were true to his promise of scaling back American militarism abroad and devoting his supposed business acumen to reviving the US domestic economy and society, then what we should be witnessing is a determined effort to diffuse international antagonism. The opposite seems to be underway with regard to China, North Korea, Iran, Venezuela and Russia.
In a lot of favorable commentary about President Trump it is averred that his America First policy is a welcome departure from American globalists, neoconservatives and neoliberals. The assumption is that Trump's brand of purported nationalist politics is a new departure from warmongering American policies.
That seems to be a naive perspective and false differentiation of American politics. Regardless of semantics, American corporate capitalism is predicated on imperialist hegemony, conflict and war. Even if Trump shifts economic production back to the US, the country will still need to dominate overseas markets for exploiting natural resources and exporting its commodities. That implies pursuing the same foreign policy underpinned by militaristic force that has been a hallmark of the US for decades.
Keep in mind the inherently aggressive nature of the United States as a modern capitalist state. Since its founding in 1776, out of 241 years of existence, the country has been at war for almost 90 percent of that time, according to several historical accounts. Not a decade has gone by when the US was not involved in some kind of war, coup, counter-coup or proxy conflict. War is a fundamental function of American capitalism.
And the election of Donald Trump is not going to change that objective fact, despite the rhetoric otherwise.
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