Brutish, Coercive, Hegemonic: the Resurgence of the Unpleasant U.S. Image

For many years, president after president has attempted to free the US of its perception as a coercive, expansionist nation. Yet with his blustering, frequently harsh conduct toward global partners, the U.S. leader has quickly revived that idea. In his administration, the Ugly American is back.

Assertive Exercise of Authority

He achieved this by wielding American influence in assertive and overbearing ways – by condemning foreign nations' approaches and then promising to penalize them if they fail to submit to his expectations. He is engaging in exactly what international law states government officials must refrain from. He has repeatedly interfered into foreign nations' internal matters, intimidating their officials, criticizing their strategies and ignoring their sovereignty. Too often, he views foreign nations as dependents of the US (and of his personal pride).

Background of the "Ugly American"

The term “the Ugly American” was brought to prominence by a book from 1958 with the same name; it depicted the lack of awareness and incompetence of U.S. representatives who frequently didn’t speak the dialect where they were stationed and infrequently spoke to the people there. Over the years, this expression was increasingly used to describe tactless and arrogant US tourists and insensitive and presumptuous American approaches toward international partners.

International Interventions

Trump has acted like an negative stereotype in numerous instances. He involved himself in Brazilian national issues by essentially demanding it to discontinue the criminal charges of its right-leaning former president (and personal friend) Jair Bolsonaro for scheming to stage a coup to resume leadership. After Brazil refused the case – the ex-president was declared culpable and handed a punishment to 27 years in jail – he implemented a half-rate duty on products from Brazil.

In recent weeks, Trump has played the Negative, even Crazed, American toward America's neighbor when he expressed fury after viewing a commercial, sponsored by the province of the Canadian province, that contained parts of a the ex-leader speech critical of duties. To counter, he implemented an extra ten percent duty on items from the northern neighbor. That move further angered Canadian citizens who were already furious about Trump’s absurd idea to transform Canada into the new American territory.

Furthermore, he has tried to pressure Colombia. He said the America would end support to the state after its leader, Gustavo Petro, objected that the US had struck a vessel from Colombia and killed a fisher as part of the administration's effort of attacking boats accused of moving drugs. Employing unpleasant, unprofessional discourse, he labeled the nation's leader an “illegal drug leader”.

Armed Warnings

Concurrently come his intermittent threats to conduct defense operations against Venezuela. These serve as a recall of America's blatantly expansionist interventions in, including, Vietnam, Granada and Iran, with the government overthrow in 1953 removing a leftist government leader. Venezuela’s president, the Venezuelan leader, is corrupt, repressive and authoritarian, and stole an election, but military intervention would be a regression to the worst days of Ugly Americanism.

European Bloc Issues

Furthermore, he has interfered in the EU's matters. At a time when digital networks is filled with numerous misinformation that it makes it hard for elected administrations to operate, even survive, the EU has understandably required digital services to eliminate deceptions and other false narratives. However he has condemned the European digital regulations, asserting that it shows bias toward U.S. digital corporations. The U.S. government has frustrated the European Union by promising to implement fresh taxes and restrict the visas of some EU officials.

Trump’s Ugly American approaches have done serious injury to America's reputation internationally

Political Intervention

Trump has improperly interfered in Argentinian governmental matters by saying he would provide a massive financial assistance, but may retract those funds if the political group of the conservative leader of Argentina, the national leader, didn’t win legislative elections. “If he loses, we are not going to be helpful with the nation,” Trump said. The faction won, following meddling Trump taking some credit, declaring: “He received significant support from our administration.”

The second-in-command, the deputy leader, intervened in German politics by attacking mainstream parties for establishing a barrier against permitting right-wing factions such as the Alternative for Germany into a ruling alliance. During an address recently to the nation's legislative body, Trump interfered in that country’s politics in an unprecedented way, urging the nation's leader to pardon the head of government, Benjamin Netanyahu, on the legal accusations against him.

United Nations Address

In Trump’s hour-long rant to the UN general assembly in the ninth month, he tried to act as Boss of the World. He instructed the international community to abandon their global warming strategies, stating worries about climate change are {“the greatest con job

Daniel Watts
Daniel Watts

Elara is a digital strategist with over a decade of experience in SEO and content marketing, helping brands achieve measurable growth.