D
onald Trump did not wait for his formal return to the White House on January 20 to weigh in on world affairs. It is therefore not premature to take stock of his first year in power now. The same man who said his success would be measured as much by the wars he prevented as by those he did not start has not always kept his word. In one year, he has already ordered bombings in three countries – Yemen, Iran and Nigeria – not to mention deadly strikes in the Caribbean Sea, carried out in the name of a war against drug trafficking that was never approved by Congress. These have been accompanied by threats of intervention against the indefensible regime of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela, serving as a stark reminder that the entire American continent is now considered subject to the interests of the United States alone.
Trump claims credit for eight decisive interventions that put an end to lingering conflicts. While the intention is commendable, albeit clearly driven by his obsession with a Nobel Peace Prize, the reality is far removed from this tally, as it includes already-signed armistices and aborted attempts. The results achieved by the Republican president regarding the two major wars he faced from the moment he took the oath – namely, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the war that led to the destruction of Gaza after the massacres of October 7 carried out by Hamas – have been deeply disappointing. No progress has been made in the former, which he had promised to resolve within 24 hours, and the ceasefire achieved in Gaza has so far not led to any beginnings of a political mechanism that could one day result in a just and lasting peace.
