The world would be 'chaotic' if national interests tower above all else – Mahama tackles Trump

The flag bearer of Ghana’s biggest opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr John Mahama, has in a riposte to US President Donald Trump’s speech recently delivered at the UN General Assembly, in which he (Mr Trump) said “the future belongs to patriots, not globalists”, noted that while patriotism was a good thing, it could dovetail into the global scheme of things, since, in the former Ghanaian leader’s view, patriotism and globalism are not “exclusionary” concepts.

In a short article on his Facebook wall, Mr Mahama said: “I listened closely to the US President's address at the 74th UN General Assembly. The above, in quotes, caught my attention. It obviously spells out, clearly, President Trump's world view”.

“He believes that the world's future belongs to people who are patriotic to their nations rather than those who think globally and uphold a multilateral world order.

“Patriotism refers to love of country and putting loyalty to national interests above all else. Globalism is the notion of having a common global village in which decisions are made multilaterally through collaboration of nations, great and small”, Mr Mahama defined.

He asserted: “I am sure that one can be both a patriot and a globalist, and I don't believe the two concepts are exclusionary. I love my country, but my country would not exist without our planet, our globe”.

“While we pursue our national interest”, Mr Mahama noted, “We must also subsume our national interest to global coexistence, peace, security and environmental sustainability”.

“Without global cooperation”, the former Ghanaian President said, “There would have been no Climate Change Agreement. Without global cooperation, there would have been no MDGs. Without globalism, there would be no Sustainable Development Goals. Without global cooperation there would be no Nuclear non-proliferation treaty and many more”.

According to him, “The Nazis could be said to be patriotic based on their warped view of national interest at the time. The Khmer Rouge were patriots based on their blood-thirsty definition of Cambodia's national interest. Apartheid South Africa was the definition of patriotism for those who believed the national interest was served by a race segregated society”.

“If every country puts its defined national interest above all else, what a chaotic world order we would have. It is love of country and unbridled patriotism that led us to two world wars. The multilateral global world order has maintained a relatively peaceful world for more than 70 years now.”

“In any case, the platform on which the Trumpian doctrine of patriotism over globalism was delivered yesterday, was a global one, and is one created by the world's greatest global institution, the UN”, Mr Mahama added.