History’s tyrants conquered the world through armies and empires. The French had Napoleon, who marched soldiers wreaking terror and the Germans had Hitler who unleashed the blitzkrieg. Today, America has offered us Donald J Trump, a man as allergic to nuance as he is devoted to self-promotion. If Nostradamus spoke of a ‘third Anti-Christ’ we would suspect he imagined someone with armies and brute weapons.

Yet, Trump land wields global dysfunction as its bluntest instrument by freezing billions in aid, estranging allies and unravelling the fragile threads of global cooperation. It is a quieter form of devastation, but no less real. Regardless, Mr. Trump’s name has gone to Oslo as a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize. The irony of this candidacy is almost too perfect to ignore. But let’s be fair. Let’s look at Mr. Trump’s “achievements” and see if maybe, just maybe, the world has been too cruel to this peacemaker in a red tie. For his laurels, let us begin with NATO.

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Trump bullied the NATO allies like a loan shark, warning them to push up their defense target or he would invite Russia to “do whatever the hell they want”. While diplomats around the world called out this extortion, for our peacemaker it was just simple “leverage”. The leverage did work indeed and at least 22 out of the 32 NATO members not only pushed to 2 per cent and beyond but are murmuring about hitting the 5 per cent........

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