Interessiert sich noch jemand für den Wahrheitsgehalt von Aussagen mächtiger Politiker, die die Weltpolitik bestimmen? Gegenwehr ist alternativlos.
— Weiterlesen taz.de/Trumps-Auftritt-vor-der-UNO/!6111633/
Englisch version: Is anyone still interested in the truthfulness of statements made by powerful politicians who determine global politics? There is no alternative to resistance.
US President Donald Trump at the UN General Debate: foreign policy as a game of chance that is supposed to be fun and increase one’s own fame. Photo: Kay Nietfeld/dpa
The United Nations is financing large-scale attacks on the West. Climate change is a huge hoax. Ukraine is a Nazi construct. Germany is returning to nuclear power. Sharia law prevails in London. Palestine never existed. The war between Cambodia and Armenia is over. All these statements have been made recently by powerful politicians. Not all of them are from US President Donald Trump’s speech to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday; Vladimir Putin and Benjamin Netanyahu are also among them. But they are all lies, uttered to justify one’s own wrongdoing and to discredit foreign policy opponents.
The world has entered the era of post-factual foreign policy. Facts no longer count, only assertions. Trump says he has ended seven wars in seven months. Putin portrays his war of aggression against Ukraine as a defensive war against NATO. Netanyahu equates all Palestinians with Hamas. All three claims are easily refutable distortions of the facts, but they form the basis of all three leaders‘ foreign policy and thus, regardless of their truthfulness, take on a reality of their own – a subjective reality that shapes real, objective action. In the early 19th century, when Emperor Napoleon was already turning Europe upside down, German philosophers defined this subjective reality as the starting point of both art and madness.
Germany has problems with this as a principle of world order, and it is not alone in this. In a rational world, diplomacy is a tool for adjusting inter-state relations, and like all tools, it does not work if it is guided by fantasy rather than reality. Europe, primarily Germany, does not shape foreign policy as a work of art, but as a craft, full of content, goals and demands both on itself and on others. Trump and the others see it more as a game of chance that is supposed to be fun and increase their own fame.
What actually happens is irrelevant, as long as one looks good in the process. And what others want from one is even more irrelevant. Should one now get used to such a world? As the AfD’s good poll ratings show, there is definitely a longing in Germany for the magical world of Trump, Putin and other unscrupulous power politicians, where you only have to make a claim for everyone to follow suit. Confronting this delusion with courage and common sense seems hopeless at present. But there is no alternative.
Anyone can read taz
As a cooperative, we belong to our readers. And our journalism is not only 100% independent of corporate influence, but also accessible free of charge. Texts that don’t please everyone and voices that aren’t heard elsewhere – always out of conviction and here on taz.de without a paywall. Our readers don’t have to pay anything, but they know that good, critical journalism doesn’t come out of nowhere. We are very grateful for that. In order to continue our journalism tomorrow, we need more support. Our next goal: 50,000 – and with your participation, we can achieve it. Make a statement for taz and for the future of our journalism. You can join us for just £5! Support us now
Dominic Johnson
Head of Foreign Affairs
Co-head of the taz foreign affairs department since 2011 and Africa editor at taz since 1990
piWerk 