America First and the human rights regime

Abstract

Donald Trump's populist, nationalist "America First" agenda advocates a transactional, zero-sum, hypercompetitive, and sovereigntist view of US foreign policy, which many scholars and policymakers conclude poses a considerable challenge to multilateralism. We explore the threat America First presents to the international human rights regime as reflected in important institutions and norms. We survey America First policies regarding immigration and refugee norms as well as norms prohibiting torture and war crimes. We examine its position on the UN Human Rights Commission and the International Criminal Court, consider Trump's sympathies for autocratic governments, and explore the development of the Commission on Unalienable Rights. Finally, we explain why the America First norm transgressions pose a novel threat to the human rights regime, potentially more worrisome than prior US norm violations. America First's performative element risks reconstituting US identity as an outsider state, if not an outlaw, visa -vis the international community.

COVID‐19, asylum seekers, and migrants on the Mexico–U.S. border: Creating states of exception

“…Another way for a sovereign to consolidate power emerges from the creation of a homogeneous medium (Schmitt, 2006 ) that emerges from a clear understanding of the other. Regarding asylum seekers and migrants crossing into the United States, “Trump's policy has created a humanitarian catastrophe at the border” particularly invoking the attention of “UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michele Bachelet ( 2019 ) [who] openly criticized the United States for the conditions under which people, and in particular children, have been detained” (Mills & Payne, 2020 , p. 403). One of the easiest ways to identify this develops from an examination of xenophobic nationalist rhetoric (Mills & Payne, 2020 , p. 402).…”

“…Regarding asylum seekers and migrants crossing into the United States, “Trump's policy has created a humanitarian catastrophe at the border” particularly invoking the attention of “UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michele Bachelet ( 2019 ) [who] openly criticized the United States for the conditions under which people, and in particular children, have been detained” (Mills & Payne, 2020 , p. 403). One of the easiest ways to identify this develops from an examination of xenophobic nationalist rhetoric (Mills & Payne, 2020 , p. 402). More specifically, targeting specific groups of people as scapegoats for the country's problems creates the homogeneous medium essential for the creation of a state of exception (Schmitt, 2006 ) by allowing for the emergence of sovereignty, which of course is problematic for both democracies and federal republics.…”

Sino-Western rivalry in the COVID-19 “vaccine wars”–A race to the bottom?

“…Conversely, the United States has acted in relatively bad faith, by cornering the market for remdesevir (bought three months' worth), a drug proven to reduce recovery time for COVID-19 patients (from 15 to 11 days) in June 2020, leaving none for the rest of the world (Brophy, 2020). This astounding act of selfishness is an indication of Trump's zero-sum game oriented “America First [2]” policy which has not gone down well with the global community that is still being ravaged by COVID-19 (Mills and Payne, 2020). Critics such as Oxford University's Professor Peter Horby argue that such tactics would undermine future cooperative efforts in drug development, as clinical trials for drugs are often conducted across a multitude of countries and not just the United States (BBC, 2020).…”

“…2. Donald Trump’s “America First” policy advocates a transactional and winner-takes-all approach in America's foreign policy (Mills and Payne, 2020). …”

Forum: Did “America First” Construct America Irrelevant?

“…As one recent article states: “[President Trump] openly embrace[d] selfish and insular views of world politics that are rarely expressed so openly in international affairs…. [moreover] Trump's America First agenda applie[d] a hypercompetitive perspective to evaluate virtually every relationship or issue area, explaining almost all interactions in material and transactional terms” ( Mills and Payne 2020 , 401). Another argues that Trump's predilections for white supremacy undermined national security and both American hard and soft power throughout the world ( Granieri and Orenstein 2020 ).…”