As the former executive director of Human Rights Watch, Kenneth Roth issues a stern warning about the dangers of Donald Trump’s embrace of a “might-makes-right” approach to foreign policy. In a world where the US president seems intent on resurrecting the concept of “spheres of influence,” Roth argues that this would have dire consequences for the international order and the defence of human rights.
Trump’s disdain for constraints on US power is not a new phenomenon, Roth explains, as the US government has long viewed international law as a hindrance rather than a guiding principle. However, the current administration’s unabashed return to great-power politics enforced through coercion represents a concerning shift.
The author highlights how Trump’s policies in Latin America, from backing authoritarian leaders to seizing Venezuela’s oil, demonstrate a complete disregard for democratic norms and the rule of law. This, Roth argues, is not a recipe for winning “hearts and minds” but rather a recipe for instability and conflict.
Roth warns that a world dominated by unrestrained force would significantly weaken the crime of aggression, leaving international institutions like the ICC and the UN powerless to hold the world’s most powerful nations accountable. This, in turn, would lead US allies and emerging powers in the Global South to hedge their bets, potentially aligning with rivals like Russia and China.
The consequences of this shift, Roth argues, would be detrimental to the defence of human rights, economic predictability, and the stability of smaller states. Moreover, it would undermine the US’s own economic interests, as global trade and investment require respect for international law – something that Trump’s “imperialist order” seems intent on discarding.
Roth concludes by emphasising the urgent need to resist Trump’s disregard for fundamental norms, as this is essential for redeeming the rule of law in the future. Despite the damage that can be done in the short term, he believes that this fight is not yet lost, and that finding every conceivable way to repudiate the president’s lawlessness is a vital task for those who value a rules-based international order.