It’s been a crazy couple of weeks, hasn’t it?

Trump 2.0 has swept to complete victory in the United States and the German centre-left coalition has collapsed, paving the way for the conservative Christian Democratic Union to form the next government. Conservative ideology is also on the ascendancy in France and Canada. 

For globalist governments everywhere, this is an existential moment, a moment to act or react to the new political reality and support the institutions necessary to ensure that key global issues like climate change and punishing aggression, survive the transition to conservative, nationalist politics.

This is where governments and private sector donors and philanthropists like the Soros Foundation and the Gates Foundation must together support the survival of global ideas in an increasingly illiberal world.

Western Agents

Thankfully for humanity, some billionaires like George Soros and Bill Gates took it upon themselves to invest some of the money they made from society into preserving it. Soros supports liberal education and democracy in countries ‘at risk’ of slipping into autocracy. Gates has made incredible progress in eradicating life-threatening diseases in Africa. For their willingness to fund things that are not geopolitically ‘cool’, these philanthropists often get denounced as Western agents or mocked as dreamers.

If it were not for private individuals willing to spend their time and billions of dollars supporting crazy ideas, we would have slipped into an Orwellian 1984 reality long ago. Dreamers? The Bill Gates Foundation has saved an estimated 38 million lives and provided prevention, treatment and care services to hundreds of millions of people.

Vacuum

The shifting political landscape also creates a policy vacuum as everyone awaits the effect Trump 2.0 will have on international issues like the war in Ukraine, NATO, international law and human rights. Old relationships will need to be rekindled, and new decision makers courted to keep aid and development funds flowing to Ukraine, Gaza, Lebanon, etc. This re-set will take years.

The biggest risk Trump poses to Ukraine is not something specific like an imposed, ‘trade land for peace’ deal, it’s the uncertainty. Who knows how long he’ll take to make a decision regarding support for Ukraine. If Canada, the U.K. and the EU continue their policy of ‘following the U.S. lead’, how does support for Ukraine even maintain current levels in this vacuum?

Conservativism doesn’t necessarily portend disaster for the world order, but the shift in policy landscapes will take time to develop and create the framework to support it. While all this is being done behind the scenes, who is continuing to keep the best and brightest minds focused on supporting Ukraine’s recovery and Russia’s obligation to pay for all the damage done?

Slava Ukraini!  Heroaim Slava!