Donald Trump’s first term gave the world a taste of his deliberately disruptive unwanted involvement in the domestic affairs of other countries, with examples ranging from Britain in the Brexit crisis to North Korea where the 45th US President sought to make a personal pact with Kim Jong Un. Had tried. Un.
However, American tech billionaire Elon Musk has taken it to a whole new level. It appears that Musk is willing to interfere in the affairs of other countries by using his personal influence with specific decision makers, governments and institutions or by attacking them from the sidelines of social media to get them to work the way he wants. Can remake. In contrast, Trump is more pragmatic and can make compromises with any country, provided they are consistent with his “America First” mission and give him what he asks for.
Over the past six months, many countries have become subject to Musk’s “personal foreign policy” initiative. Until recently, there were two schools of thought on his interest in global politics. Initially, Musk was merely “a mischievous protester” who simply liked to shock and appeared to be largely motivated by social media.
But it has raised concerns about Musk’s increasingly deliberate efforts to destabilize governments, including steadily boosting populist support for far-right parties and potentially funding populist allies. This comes as current President Joe Biden warned of the growing power of the ultra-rich in his final address to the nation before leaving office.
Musk wields enormous global influence not only because of his wealth, connections and fleet of companies. But that’s arguably because he’s a self-proclaimed populist whose political preferences are increasingly broad. By January 20, he will also be an important member of the Trump administration.
Their political toolbox includes supporting or (more commonly) implicating individual politicians (e.g. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, or German Chancellor Olaf Scholz). He also supports populist parties such as Reform UK and AfD in Germany. He criticizes government officials, judges in other countries, and broadcast outlets in places where he does not live.
Musk’s political involvement appears to be largely aimed at supporting populist individuals, parties, and issues, as well as actively undermining centrist parties in other countries. However, Musk’s political inroads have expanded recently, with a clear eye on the election results.
Examples include countries where elections are held somewhat early (in Canada by attacking Prime Minister Justin Trudeau), or much earlier (Germany), giving them room to criticize incumbents while supporting their elected opposition party. Is available.
Musk’s focus has been wide-ranging, from attacks on Starmer to support for Italy’s Georgia Meloni and Argentina’s Javier Mieli.
Whose foreign policy?
The concern for those working in foreign policy is that Musk has proven effective in the role of Trump’s pre-inauguration disruptor, and he may be deployed in the name of the US government to continue his interference and destabilization. Could. The challenge then will be to understand where Musk’s personal foreign policy ends, and where American foreign policy actually begins.
To soften the ground for Trump’s preferred combination of far-right populism and protectionist, tariff-driven trade approach, Musk positions himself as a global defender of free speech.
Musk’s modus operandi is to encourage national communities and leaders to “rally against regulations”, thereby empowering far-right parties and industry leaders who have seen an opportunity to deregulate key sectors.
Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg recently announced sweeping changes to the social media giant’s content moderation policy in the US. The European Parliament’s far-right group Patriots for Europe supported Musk’s call for greater media freedom.
These two conveniently aligned with Musk targeting the EU and EU regulation as “institutionalized censorship,” paving the way for Trump to start any number of fights.
The buffer zone of common sense, including (now former) former UK Deputy PM Nick Clegg as head of policy for Meta, has been removed. Zuckerberg’s thinking now matches that of companies, regulators and politicians who agree with Trump.
disruptive and divisive
Musk represents both indirect and direct state interference as a single global disruptor and Trump’s favorite front man. Sitting at Trump’s right hand and – as of January 20 – leading the new US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) – means it is not clear who is acting, and in whose interests and, importantly, who benefits. It happens.
Are countries less likely to ask Musk and Trump to back off, aware of the risk of a flood of anger with very real consequences in the context of a trade dispute? This is certainly the view of many, including former European parliamentarian Marietje Schaake, who argues that: “Musk should be seen as representing the US president when he speaks to key European countries, hitherto allies. “Bet against the leadership of.”
Or are countries likely to ignore Musk, betting that the demonstrative bullying inherited from Trump can largely be ignored?
respond to interference
Although many may push back, only a few have the ability to drive change in global politics, and the European Union is an example of this. The European Commission clarified that it closely watched Musk’s recent X livestream session with Alice Weidel, leader of Germany’s far-right AfD party. This was to decide whether I through.
The European Commission – in its role as enforcer of Europe’s Digital Services Act (DSA) – could impose higher fines, or blocks. But doing so would require serious political will, as well as irrefutable evidence to prove that X is posing a risk to the public by promoting illegal hate speech.
What are the consequences of Musk’s rollercoaster ride in global affairs? Regulation is likely to become the order of the day. MAGA has long emphasized a “small state/big companies” approach, and this is likely to continue under Musk’s leadership.
There may be further problems for those who do not understand Musk’s role. Casualties here may include incoming Secretary of State Marco Rubio as well as US foreign policy officials in Washington (and their counterparts around the world), all of whom may be confused as to whose agenda is being implemented.
But having many angry international allies is a bad start for any new government. Violating the “norms of responsible conduct” – although Musk treats them lightly – ultimately will not help Trump make himself effective, but will be more disruptive.
,Author: Amelia Hadfield, Head of Politics, University of Surrey)
,disclosure statement: Amelia Hadfield has received Jean Monnet/Erasmus+ and Horizon Europe funding from the European Commission)
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
