Former President Donald Trump is Also the Upcoming President – But What Does It Mean?

Former U.S. President Donald Trump (Rep) won the election against his opponent Kamala Harris (Dem) and is now also the upcoming president. This offers Europe some food for thought.

In economic terms, Trump is expected to strongly advocate for the interests of American businesses and workers. This will likely manifest in the form of increased tariffs, making it harder for other countries to export their products to the U.S.

Europe – and other regions as well – will thus need to consider whether to respond with their own tariffs or simply criticize the Trump administration for its anti-free-trade stance. The former seems more likely, which could ultimately slow down global economic growth.

Trump is also expected to take a firm stance on the humanitarian migration flow from Mexico to the U.S.. This aligns with policies in some EU countries aiming for similar goals. However, it remains to be seen whether either will ultimately succeed in halting the flow of people from developing countries, driven by rapid population growth and a large standard-of-living gap with destination countries.

It is important to note here that, in the U.S., one must work to get by. In many European countries, on the other hand, it's been sufficient to collect social benefits and live off them comfortably.

In military terms, Trump’s overall stance is clear. He demands that NATO’s European members increase their defense spending, without which he won’t commit to guaranteeing their security in the same way the U.S. has done for decades.

Taiwan and Ukraine, of course, are special cases, and I haven’t quite grasped Trump’s stance on them. However, I assume he won’t leave Taiwan at China’s mercy, though Ukraine remains a bigger question mark.

My dear readers will undoubtedly recall that Trump promised to bring peace to Ukraine within a day. However, it’s unclear how he could even achieve that. Unless Trump issues Vladimir Putin an ultimatum to withdraw his forces from Ukraine or face the U.S. military.

Such an approach might indeed work, but in that case, there would be a risk that Russia’s cornered dictator would resort to nuclear weapons. And that would be disastrous for everyone in this world.

Be that as it may, Donald Trump is taking responsibility for U.S. policy, and others must accept that. For Finland’s part, President Alexander Stubb summed up the situation by stating that Finland will get along with the U.S. regardless of who leads the country. On this, I have no further comments.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
A Message From and To Vladimir Putin
Finland Will Thrive with Any US President, Trump Survived the Assassination Attempt
Trump is leaving Africa

 

Sexual harassment and bullying in working life

Bullying and sexual harassment have become major issues in working life including scientific realm. Therefore it was interesting to read fresh reports of recent developments on these issues.

In the first case archaeologist Nicole Boivin was removed from a director position in the famous Max Planck Institute. She was already removed from her position in October 2021 due to evidence of bullying and scientific misconduct, but a court reinstated her due to violated procedures. However, after a confidential report supporting the allegations justified her removal. She remains, however, a researcher at the institute. 

This case has drawn a lot of attention because recent demotions at Mat Planck Institute have disproportionately affected women. Also Boivin was accused of creating an abusive work environment that harmed young women scholars. Whatsoever, this case shows that - in working life - not only males are quilty of bullying, but also women may behave incorrectly.

In the second case it was reported that a high-profile biologist David Sabatini was forced out of the Whitehead Institute in 2021 after he had violated its sexual harassment policies. And now he has also resigned from his professorship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology after three senior officials recommended revoking his tenure. Sabatini had violated intitute´s policy by having a consensual sexual relationship with a person, on whose career he could have been able to influence. 

The biologist commented that the situation is "out of all proportion to the actual, underlying facts. I look forward to setting the record straight and standing up for my integrity." 

A female emeritus professor of biology, however called his resignation "a milestone", because "a young woman had the courage to demand that the rules be enforced. And she was heard." 

Hopefully the decision was correct provided that - at least in my home country - women sometimes use untruthful accusations in cases where intimate relations have failed, and the former pair is fighting for sharing their property or child custody. Thus, I hope the recommendation on Sabatini was well based and the possibility of false accusations excluded. 

In the last case reported in Mexico, a government office dismissed allegations of sexual harassment against a plant geneticist Jean-Philippe Vielle Calzada. Four female scientists, three of them his students, had claimed accusations on him for touching without consent, pressing for a romantic relationship and professional retaliation after rejection.

The Internal Control Organ had previously noted "serious" misconduct by Caldeza, but later dismissed two of the complaints, one of them due to a procedural issue. That is in line with a previous Mexican practice highlighted by the fact that only 1% of the last 399 cases of sexual harassment reported in federal institutions have led to sanctions. Thus, although I am not in a position to evaluate the correctness of this very decision, it looks like a serious difficulty in punishing working life misbehavior continues in Mexico. 

Overall, these three cases highlight problems in creating and keeping decent working life culture even among the most highly educated humans, who also have - in addition to career-related ambitions - sexual and other emotions, that affect daily behavior. I have also seen such cases during my career, and can assure that there is often one word against another and the cases raise strong feelings even among outsiders, who eagerly choose their side. And therefore decision making is extremely difficult - and obviously prone to errors. 

Therefore I am afraid that two kinds of mistakes do happen. Either innocent people will be sanctioned or victims are left without justice. In both cases, the efficacy of the working community suffers considerably - including universities and research institutes. 

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
A set of immigration-derived sexual crimes in a Finnish town