UNDER Donald Trump, what were up till now fringe positions of the American hard right are now becoming part of Washington’s official policy. The latest in this series of moves is the US withdrawal from the UN Human Rights Council, a multilateral body formed to monitor human rights abuses amongst the global body’s member states. Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, used characteristically undiplomatic language while criticising the body, terming it “a cesspool of political bias”. And the main reason for such a harsh appraisal? According to Ambassador Haley, the UN body displays “unending hostility towards Israel”. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo used equally strong terms to denounce the council, terming it “a protector of human rights abuses”. While most US allies were critical of the withdrawal from the human rights council, Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu was overjoyed, gleefully welcoming the “courageous decision” in a tweet. Not too long before that, Mr Trump rowed back from his policy to separate migrant children from their parents trying to illegally enter the US. This decision was only reversed after an uproar in the US over the issue. Indeed, for a state that swears by fundamental rights, these actions are unbecoming and need to be reconsidered.

The Trumpian agenda seems to be one of isolation from the global community, with limited engagement with countries the US president approves of. The withdrawal from the UN council is only the latest in a long list of American decisions that have caused outrage in the global community. The tearing up of the Iran deal; the withdrawal from the Paris Agreement on climate change and the moving of the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem all seem part of a pattern to redirect American policy towards an uncharted course. The reason for Washington leaving the UN rights council is also ironic; while states should not be singled out, it is a fact that Israel’s human rights record is abysmal, especially with regard to its treatment of Palestinians. Here is a state that claims to be a democracy, yet launches murderous campaigns against civilians, including children. So for the global community to censure Israel on its behaviour is the least that can be done. But America under Trump has shown that it is drifting in an extreme direction, where foreign and domestic policies are drafted not on the basis of rationality, but whim and impulse.

Published in Dawn, June 22nd, 2018