The United States and “peace through force”

At the last meeting of NATO defense ministers, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said two things worth mentioning. One, and he stated this bluntly, was to reiterate to European countries that they must increase military budgets to 5% of GDP, and that this increase must be achieved by purchasing weapons in the United States, something Trump had said a few times, but which he now insists on in case we weren't clear enough about. In other words, the rearmament of Europe is not justified by alleged military threats to the continent, even though the NATO Secretary General has said several times that Russia could invade us within five years, but rather by the needs of the US military economy, making the slogan of "America first", which in this case means investing our budgets in the United States. Business is business, and the world's new CEO, Donald Trump, wants it that way. What I regret, in this case, is that so many European countries are doing the emperor's bidding, and are willing to sink what little remains of the welfare state in Europe. Consequently, reduce social spending.

The second question refers to Hegseth's statements that, "if we have learned anything under the Trump presidency, it is the active application of peace through force." For him, this principle applies as much to Ukraine as to Palestine or anywhere else in the world. principles of peace negotiations, because he would know that peace imposed by force leads to situations of extreme fragility, accumulation of hatred and assured risks of new violence. of the problem. This often happens when these false peaces are obtained without the participation of some of the most important actors, as is the case in Palestine, where the Palestinian population has not been consulted on their future and how to reach them. Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and many other examples, because we have many successful peace experiences and failed peace experiences. This now also includes the work of Peacebuilding, where there are highly experienced negotiators that Trump wants nothing to do with because he despises the United Nations and all its values. There are people and institutions that have the skill and competence to lead a negotiation process. Everything that is happening around Trump's peace plan for Palestine—which steals several points already mentioned in the French and Saudi Arabian proposal from late July, the New York Declaration—is more a reflection of the combination of peace than of the peace of the guidelines for its success. It would be good if European states were more critical of this type of proposal, and not so servile to the whims of the new world emperor.