海角大神

President Trump used his first appearance before world leaders assembled at the United Nations鈥� annual opening session Tuesday to offer a vision for international cooperation that was part red meat, part kumbaya.

On the philosophical side, the 鈥淎merica First鈥� president laid out a nationalist basis for international interaction, saying that national sovereignty and not multilateralism should be the foundation for international efforts to address the world鈥檚 pressing issues. 聽

鈥淚 was elected to give power to the American people where it belongs,鈥� Mr. Trump said, adding, 鈥渏ust like you, the leaders of your countries, will always, and should always, put the citizens of your countries first.鈥�

Yet Trump鈥檚 full-throated praise of national sovereignty left no room to recognize that it was national sovereignty run amok that resulted in the global ashes from which the United Nations and an unprecedented era of multilateral cooperation arose seven decades ago.

And then came the red meat.

Trump lashed out at a group of 鈥渞ogue nations鈥� led by North Korea and Iran that he said were using their national sovereignty to spread violence and challenge international security. And he called on other nations to join the United States to stop these 鈥渨icked few鈥� who are threatening world peace.

In the stark terms that thrill his domestic political base but which only rarely echo in the UN鈥橲 green-marbled diplomatic hall, Trump threatened to 鈥渢otally destroy鈥� North Korea if it proceeds with its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. And he vowed to take on the 鈥渕urderous regime鈥� in Tehran that 鈥渕asks a corrupt dictatorship.鈥�

Sounding more like candidate Trump than the American president, Trump belittled the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, describing him as a 鈥渞ocket man on a suicide mission.鈥�

Trump had harsh words as well for the Iran nuclear deal, labeling it an 鈥渆mbarrassment鈥� and 鈥渙ne of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into.鈥�

With such unequivocal language, the president seemed to be putting the world body on notice that the US will soon put Iran back on the international center stage, where it was before the nuclear deal was concluded in 2015.

'Deeply philosophical' or throwback to past?

While Trump鈥檚 harsh words for North Korea and Iran were largely reiterations of existing positions, it was the theme of national sovereignty that offered what sounded like an earnest effort to explain a leadership approach that jarred the world.

A senior White House official speaking Monday on condition of anonymity portrayed Trump鈥檚 speech as 鈥渋n essence explaining how the principle of 鈥楢merica First鈥� is not only consistent with the goal of international cooperation, but a rational basis for every country to engage in cooperation.鈥�

The official described the speech as a 鈥渄eeply philosophical address鈥� reflecting a worldview the president has been developing 鈥渇or decades.鈥�

But for some longtime analysts of international relations, Trump鈥檚 emphasis on national sovereignty sounded like a chilling throwback to an era of unbridled nationalist ambitions fueling conflict.

鈥淭here was a core contradiction at the heart of this speech, and it was this: If each individual nation puts itself before all others and pursues a hard nationalistic sovereignty, then the cooperation that Trump called for will be unattainable,鈥� says Charles Kupchan, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington.

If anything, a reaffirmation of national sovereignty might end up a boon to the very dictators Trump condemned by name in his speech 鈥� including Syria鈥檚 Bashar al-Assad and Venezuela鈥檚 Nicol谩s Maduro 鈥� by reinforcing the argument that other nations should stay out of their internal affairs.

'Great reawakening of nations'

But perhaps even more alarming than the implicit contradiction in the speech is the danger it carries for the world of rekindled nationalism, says Dr. Kupchan.

鈥淲e heard the president praise a 鈥榞reat reawakening of nations鈥� 鈥� but that鈥檚 a recipe for going back to dark days in history when it was each country for itself 鈥� and when that hard nationalism led to centuries of war,鈥� he says.

Trump was followed a few speeches later by French President Emmanuel Macron, whom many are seeing this year as the West鈥檚 standard-bearer against Trump鈥檚 vision of nationalism and rejection of postwar multilateralism.

Mr. Macron lauded the Paris climate accord from which the US has announced it is withdrawing, and other senior French officials in New York have insisted there is no alternative to the Iran nuclear deal, which they highlight as an example of international diplomacy averting war.

Kupchan, who served on the National Security Council as special adviser on Europe in the Obama second term, says Europeans understand better than many others the dangers in deconstructing the international order that followed World War II.

鈥淭he Europeans know that it was hard nationalistic sovereignty that fed a zero-sum competition that resulted in conflict, but they also know that it was the international order 鈥� an order for which Americans have expended tremendous blood and treasure since Pearl Harbor 鈥� that allowed them to escape centuries of bloodshed.鈥�

Interpreting Trump鈥檚 speech as 鈥渢aking a wrecking ball to that order,鈥� Kupchan says, 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to see why anyone would want to do that.鈥�